Second Reunion
by ZakuReno
Summary: It started with the cruel lost life of someone dear and may end with another. Everything revolves around a certain grieving brunette with a unique lineage. what could she do when her life kept going downhill. RenoXOC Sequel to Love and Sin
1. Prologue

A/N: I'm back with the sequel! This chap is still some sort of a filler which happens immediately after Love and Sin's ending. The real plot starts next chapter so wait for it! Enjoy and review please! And no FLAMES!

* * *

The redhead stirred to the usually empty side of his king sized bed and stretched his hand out, landing it on a warm and soft flesh.

Reno opened his eyes and groaned as he adjusted his vision. A sleeping brunette came to view and he smiled as he recollected last night's happenings.

The smiling Turk lifted his hand from her chest and propped his elbow on the white mattress, resting his head on his fist.

She was really sleeping next to him, it wasn't a dream, and what had happened last night was real. It really happened, she was fully his and at that moment he vowed to himself that he was never, ever going to let another man lay a hand on a single strand of her hair.

Reno stared for a while, letting his mind wander around while enjoying her presence and the silence (which he rarely enjoyed) of the room.

How did she took his heart in less than 2 weeks and disappeared for six months without giving it back to him? He mused to himself. Well, she certainly couldn't be categorized as ugly but he had met quite a lot of far more fairer women than her. Her height was about…5'4"? Just an inch or 2 shorter than Tifa, slim with some curves, but she wasn't the sexiest attainable women that he had ever met in his life. Even her racks were…not so small but it couldn't be compared with Tifa or Scarlet's or quite a lot of prostitutes that he had met along his life.

She had a good personality; kind, innocent…sometimes nagging but she wasn't the only person with these types of character. Aerith was there, Tifa…Elena (double on the nagging part) and Cissnei who had her own life now after the Zirconaide incident.

Anyway, back to the topic. She wasn't the most perfect girl that he had ever met, but how could she made him feel like this? Her presence alone could make him smile and feel contented, her touch could ease all of his worries, her scent made him relax, her voice was not so high as to hurt his ears but not so low to make it too serious (and enough to turn him on without any problem) at the same time and her eyes…the most special feature of the brunette was her beautiful soft green eyes, he could stay all day and just stare at them and at the same time it could make him feel guilt all over again…

Last night when he first entered her, he saw her screwed her eyes shut while she bit her lips and endured the physical pain he was causing her while he was enjoying it all by himself. Did it hurt that much with the other virgins that he had sex with, or was it just because it was her?

The redhead let his free hand grazed the brunette's cheeks, down to her neck, scar, collarbone and the bite mark in between them. He smiled when she slapped his hand away and stirred to the other side of the bed, curling into a ball and burying herself into the warm sheets which covered and protected her naked skin.

Reno smiled at the scene in front of him and began to stare at her for awhile before his phone rang loudly. He swore and carelessly fished it out of the puddle of clothes on the floor next to him, knocking the clock which reads 7AM in the process.

Seira stirred when he finally found the buzzing communication device and flipped it open.

"Reno speaking." He grumbled to the device on his ear.

"Reno, it's me, Doctor Rayne. I just had a touching reunion with both of my son, daughter in law and grandson. And now he's demanding for his daughter. Is she with you? "

"Who?" Reno ignored the stern tone and acted dumb, but before he could even think of telling the truth or lie to keep the brunette all for himself for the whole day, the said teen stirred again and moaned.

"Re…? Who's there?" Loud enough for the other receiving end of the cell phone to hear.

Reno cursed under his breath and before he could counter any of it with his sly mind, the other man spoke with full of authority. "We'll reach there in another hour…prepare yourself." And the call ended with a loud click from the other end.

The redhead lay down on the bed and sighed before wrapping his arms on the still sleeping brunette's waist and pulled her bare back to his hard, muscular chest. "Sei" He whispered seductively behind her ears, receiving a gentle but protesting grunt,

"Your dad will be reaching in another hour." He blurted out and he was immediately knocked back to the bed by Seira who sprang up to a sitting position, knocking the sheet which was previously covering her upper torso in the process which revealed her naked breast.

The player Turk immediately whistled on the erotic scene in front of him, receiving a fierce glare and rows of profanities which rarely came from his lover's mouth.

She tugged the covers up with force and protectively wrapped her body with the white sheets, pulling the sheets from Reno and revealing his pale skin in the process.

"Babe, you don't have to use force to see me naked, just ask for it." The naked man in boxers purred, receiving a fiercer glare if possible and more curses under her breath.

"C'mon we still got another hour." He whined and the answer was a loud, forceful slam of his bathroom's door.

Seems like the mischievous Turk had just discovered more about his girlfriend that day. The brunette was definitely not a morning person and pissing her off wasn't an option for him to try...but a must try thing to do.

He chuckled when some more curses were heard from his bathroom and he could guess that it was either because of the bite marks all over her neck…and chest or maybe she had just recalled about last night and what she had done in front of him.

Oh, he guessed that one right

* * *

Was it just her or the doorbell rang louder than usual, adding the pain to her throbbing head. Seira stood up from the dining table and walked to the door, the redhead following leisurely behind.

Shouldn't it be him worrying about his life, than why is she having the headache and he was strolling behind her as if there wasn't anyone who was waiting in front of his door to strangle the life out of him?

The brunette cleared up her mind and respired gulps of fresh air as she brought up her hand to the cold door handle and relaxed her tensed muscle. She didn't care about anything now, she didn't care about anything that her father was going to do to the happy go lucky man behind her or herself, everything which should happen will happen. She noted clearly in her mind…but boy, she never knew that her note was going to be discarded faster than its creation.

She pulled the door open and was immediately confronted by a man with a lot of similar features with herself. Neatly cropped, short, golden brown locks and jade orbs towered over her.

Their jade eyes locked for a moment, brown eyebrows quirked up in a similar fashion and the man pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Sei-" The man smiled, for a moment before he scowled and shoved his daughter out of the way as gently as possible and threw a punch to the redhead as hard as his worn out hand could muster, throwing the young Turk back across the hallway to his living room in the process. "You bastard! What have you done to my daughter! "

"DAD!" Sei gawked for a while before screaming.

"Oh my, oh my." A sweet voice came from the door and a woman stepped in and covered the eyes of a 6 months old baby in her arms with her hand, receiving a protesting squeal from the infant.

"Mom! Stop your husband! " The brunette whined to the older woman with chocolate eyes and black locks which barely surpassed her shoulder.

"Dear, Sei won't be happy if you kill her boyfriend." She said in a sing song voice as if they were in a picnic instead of a stranger's house and her husband was too caught up in his fishing rod instead of bashing someone that he had just met.

" I would call myself a fool if I dared to interfere him." Another voice came from the doorway, a man's low and clear voice this time. The said man stepped into the mainly white apartment and revealed his black locks which were sleekly tied back to a ponytail except a layer of glistening locks on either side of his forehead which served as bangs.

"Uncle Recca! Can you please? Stop your brother!" The brunette whined again, to the owner of the brown orbs and vertical scar below the corner of his right eyes.

Seira could feel her mood getting worst from its bad state after every sound of her father's fist connecting with her redhead boyfriend's jaw or any other part of his body and she just couldn't take it anymore when she finally turned back to the one sided brawl and screamed from the top of her lungs. "DAD! I SAID STOP! " She breathed hard and continued when she saw her dad stopped his right hand midair towards the redhead's face while the other was still grabbing the other's white shirt's collar."He did nothing to me without my permission! You have to beat me first before you dare lay another finger on him!"

Reno and his soon to be father in law blinked hard at what they had just heard and see. They never knew that the usually calm girl could shout that loud or get angry until her face was that red, and Reno could swore that he saw a lone tear slipped down her cheeks before she quickly erased it with the back of her hand while the other swore that he saw smoke fuming out of his daughter's ears for a moment.

The redhead had braced himself for a punch when he saw the man's death glare directed at him but the force was something that he had not expected. The older man could even be a member of the Turks if only he was younger and more stoic (One Reno is enough for the Turks to handle).

He was acting calmly because he had seen a situation like this in a romance movie which Elena had forced him to watch and memorize most of its lines instead of Tseng. When he felt his seizer's grip had faltered because of the shocking scene that he was experiencing, he knelt down on his knees and bowed his head to the ground and repeated the cheesy line which had been imprinted in his head as sincere and serious as he could sound. "Father, I know I'm not worthy of your daughter, but we love each other and I swear upon my life that I would never, ever hurt or disappoint her." But apparently he had forgotten that the father of the heroine in the cheesy movie was not as healthy and strong as the one he was confronting.

So instead of a pat on the head and a sincere blessing, all that he got was another fist thrown to his face and a scream from his heroine.

* * *

After the catastrophic morning was over, the three guests was now sitting on the couch while the beaten up owner and somehow calmed brunette stood in front of them.

"I'm not leaving before you come back with me." The oldest man in the room spoke up with his full authority as if he was in his own house.

"I'm just asking for an hour to treat his wounds! Who do you think caused this all!" His daughter countered and glared fiercely he almost regretted saying what he had just said but he had gone this far, so why bother to stop mid-way.

"No way am I leaving you with this man alone again! You're going home with me, now!"

Seira visibly closed her eyes and breathed hard, trying to count numbers in her mind to redeem her anger. But alas she was already on her peak before, so why care anymore. "I won't leave before you leave this house first! And no one is going to change my mind!" She shouted back and ended the shouting competition with a slam of the bedroom's door, leaving the suddenly silent living room.

"Young man, I think we haven't introduced ourselves yet?" The only sane woman in the house smiled sweetly and broke the tensed silence.

"Oh, yes, ma'am. My name is Reno." He woke up from his trance and said, but before he could stretch out his hand or shot the lady his usual woman-killer smile, the infant in the woman's arms squealed in response to his name.

"Oh, what a surprise." The angelic looking woman perked an eyebrow and smiled sweetly to her son. " Sei never told us his boyfriend had the same name as his brother, this boy here is also called Reno." She ruffled her son's black mane and looked up to the redhead again.

"My name is Reina Howard, I'm Seira's mom." She shot her hand forward and shook Reno's hand briefly before pointing to the two men beside her, starting from her husband then her husband's younger brother. "This one is Kyle Howard, You must've know that he is Seira's father and on my other side is my husband's younger brother or Seira's uncle which you must've also met, Recca Howard."

Silence, was retained once again for awhile before the elder woman stood up abruptly, surprising the three other men in the room. "I'm sorry for all of the inconveniences that my husband and daughter had caused you and I think it's time for us to go now, right, dear." She turned to her husband who was facing away from the redhead childishly and smiled from ear to ear before he could protest.

Kyle knew that he was wrong, he shouldn't have lunged into the redhead like that, but he couldn't help thinking of a man touching his precious, one and only little girl who had grown a little too big to be called little. He knew and had experienced more than enough that his daughter wasn't a morning person and ruining her mood in less than 2 hours after her rise would mean ruining her mood for the whole day, but when he saw the punk behind her, he just couldn't help but trash him. How could a boy like him allow himself to touch Seira? He's just a spoilt brat from a rich family who allowed him to live alone in an apartment of this size and do what he wants to fulfill all of his wants with their money.

Reno could swear that he saw fear for a brief moment in the older man's eyes. Boy, he was glad his soon to be mother in law was supporting him…or it looks like she is.

"Okay then, we'll meet you an hour again, I believe that you will send Seira safely to her grandpa's house, right, Reno-kun." This time it was his turn to show fear, she was obviously smiling sweetly and lovingly, but somehow he could see and feel a dark aura like a killing intent emanating from her.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll send s-s-seira to gr-I mean doctor Rayne's house, safely." He cowered deep inside, but kept his upright stance outside.

And his three guests were out of his door as fast as they came in.

* * *

"Why didn't you fight him?" Reno winced as the brunette rubbed the sterilized fluffy cotton to his face and treated his wounds.

The redhead had a black circle around his left eye, a discolored right cheek, lips which were split in three different parts and a bleeding gum. "You want me to fight your father?" He asked incredulously.

"No, I mean, why don't you defend yourself? You received all of his blows and didn't even move." Seira stopped her previous work and flailed her hands, implying each of her words. The bed they were sitting on bounced as her weight shifted with every movement she made and the redhead rested his hands on both of her sides.

"He won't be satisfied if I defend myself. Besides, it's worth it. I could see you defend me like that." He smirked and rested his forehead on her smaller one. "And I'm more afraid of your mom than your father or uncle."

She felt the warmth of his skin and his breath tickling her mouth. A giggle escaped her lips and she closed her eyes while enjoying his presence. "Sorry." The brunette breathed out and felt his lips inching closer.

"Reno junior is quite cute though. You never told me that your brother was named after me." Reno chuckled as he remembered the infant with wild black mane and his wide brown eyes.

" My mother named him before I reached home, so I couldn't protest or suggest another name." Sei inched her lips closer to Reno's but he swiftly evaded and kissed her cheek in return.

"Why? Don't you like Reno? " He asked teasingly and finally sealed her lips with his when he received a disapproving look from her.

The redhead placed a firm hand on her back and deepened the kiss, his well toned chest pressed against her smaller torso, but before her back could lean on the top of the bed, a hand stopped his chest from pushing further.

"Re, we should go now." The brunette placed a hand on his hard chest and parted from his warmth, breathlessly.

"Your mom gave an hour, there's still another 30 minutes." Reno complained at the sudden separation and received a mischievous smirk from his girlfriend.

"It takes 30 minutes to reach grandpa's house, right?" She rested her hands on her hips and asked teasingly.

Reno gawked at the sudden realization and muttered. "Is your mom…on my side?"

"I think so." The brunette said in a sing-song voice and left the room while the redhead prayed silently for lady luck to come back to his side…if she had really left him.


	2. The End Of A Begining

_A/N: Welcome back _divine-insanity-x_! Glad to see my old reviewer! Thanks for the reviews and all of the alerts and favorites!_

_Enjoy and review!_

_Disclaimer: I somehow always forgot to write these things, so here it is, I'll just say it once for this entire installment. I do not own Final Fantasy 7 and their characters and place and etc. but I own the plot in this story and Seira and the other OCs._

* * *

The sky howled in grieve, its tears clashed fiercely with the ground below. It was as if the vast, usually blue but now grey, endless space could feel what they were all feeling at the moment and had decided to join in their bereavement.

Her eyes were stinging, burning and moist with hot fresh tears which were ready to pour down anytime. She clenched her fist around the white lily in her left hand and reflexively took a step back, the brunette just wanted to run away and lock herself in her bedroom and sleep, a way that she usually did to forget about everything and experience a moment of pure bliss. But not an inch of free space was left in the small room provided by the umbrella on her father's right hand and her back was met by the said man's chest.

The cold water mercilessly pounded on the ground and bounced up to her leg, soaking it with the brown mud which trickled down her limbs.

The priest's muffled voice, which she wasn't paying attention to suddenly stopped and the black human sized box was lowered into the six feet hollow ground right in front of her.

The brunette could feel her heart sank deeper every time the coffin was brought another inch further to the ground. She couldn't take it anymore and finally turned back, hiding her face in Kyle's chest since there wasn't anyone in front of her who could help her hide her tears. Seira wrapped her arms tightly on his waist and sobbed softly as the tears which she had been holding on poured down as heavy as the rain around her.

For the first time in her life, someone who she knew by heart was dead,"went back to The Lifestream or planet" as her father had said it, hiding the grieve that he was for sure feeling more than her.

Two days ago, Doctor Rayne was found with a single bullet stuck in his chest. On a pool of his own blood which had seeped out of his body like his last breath and life without anyone watching. In his own clinic which had been the place of his greatest passion trough out his short but meaningful life.

Reno mindlessly stared at the black coffin, ignoring the priest's preach about the deceased previous life. The divine man stopped and the object that he had been starring at jerked down, forcing him to tear his gaze from it. He then saw the brunette's trembling shoulder, if only they weren't separated by the stubborn old man in front of him, he would've cuddled her into his chest and let her cry out.

She was most probably holding back her tears and regretting her current position, standing right on the front row of a funeral was never an easy job for a lot of people.

His whole body tensed when she turned and stared at him with her bloodshot eyes for a while before she hid them from him, from everyone who was attending the heartbreaking ceremony. Every silent sobs which anybody except him couldn't hear over the heavy rain felt like a knife stabbing and ripping through his heart.

He knew what she was feeling now, not because he was currently feeling the same, but because he had felt it before…before death became a part of his daily life…before it became a recurring theme which passed by easily. He felt it when he was still living in the slums, before he was lured into the Turks. When one of his gangs, friends had starved to death, beaten by their drunken dad or stranger, or when they were caught with their mischievous act and ended up being a stress reliever by most of the adults living in the slums.

And for her, who wasn't accustomed to death, losing someone as important as gramps wouldn't be an easy thing to forget. She would remember the grief for days, weeks, months or even years.

When you thought that everything was alright, memories would just suddenly rush in and jumble up your feelings, tears would slip out and everything would start back at zero again. She would break and fall and rise and break again and fall and repeat the cycle until she was strong enough to really let it go and get used to it, there isn't anything like forgetting with these problems. Nothing could make you forget about the pain of losing someone.

How he wished he could gather her in his arm and let her cry out loud to her heart's content, alone, just the two of them. He would caress her hair, face, shoulder, arms and every part of her body which was shaking in fear and grief. He wanted to feel every part of her warm skin on his own and make her feel better by cooing reassuring words which he knew all too well weren't true.

His twitching hand was suddenly tugged by a colder one. The redhead whipped his head down and traced the owner of the icy limb who happened to be the said brunette he was yearning to feel since the last past weeks of their separation, again.

Reno smiled sadly and pulled their hands into his pocket, gently stroking with his thumb and sharing his pale skin's warmth to the cold and smooth surface. Funny, huh? It was usually the other way around, even though he was not a tad bit happy at her current condition, but now it was his turn to help her up, and he was a bit glad that he got the chance to.

"Sei, the flower." Kyle reminded her as he placed a hand on her shoulder and glared from the corner of his eyes to the redhead behind him.

The brunette let out an audible sniffle for the first time after her breakdown and tugged her hands free, bringing it to her swollen eyes to erase remnants of her hidden tears. She turned back once her façade was normal again and stretched out her occupied left hand to the streaming rain. The white plant slipped down when she unclenched her fist and fell into the blur with drops of the sky's heavy tears.

The downpour had ceased down into a light rain when the burial was over, the priest walked towards the brunette and gave her a sympathetic look and a brief hand shake before moving to her father. His black robe was soaked like the other attendant's clothes in the cemetery. Well, it wasn't like their umbrellas were really helping them from the heavy rain, and most of the guests could barely held their own heads up with the sobs and weeps they were holding back.

She felt dead tired and sick. Her eyes were still moist even though it felt like she had just emptied half of her tear glands just now. A hand landed on her shoulder, making her jump and turn back on her heels to face a young blonde and two men in black which she had known too well behind him.

"Seira Howard?" The blonde reached out his hand and introduced himself. "It's an honor to meet you, I am Rufus Shinra. I sincerely apologize that our first meeting should be in a situation like this."

The blonde was wearing layers of undershirts and vest with a black blazer as his outer most attire. She remembered his name from one of Reno and Tifa's story. He was the ex-president of the infamous Shinra Company and boss of the Turks. Now seeking for redemption by fixing the planet with whatever he could do.

She cringed inside at his business smile but kept her own polite smile fixed on her face easily. These types of men were the people who she had decided to always stay on alert with. They always acted nice and polite in people's face but did and thought god-knows-what behind our back. "There's nothing to be sorry about. I'm the one who should thank you for all your help with this funeral and the investigation led by the Turks."

"No acknowledgement is needed for that. I am just paying part of my debt to him. "

"Debt?" The brunette inquired further at his previous statement with a skeptical raise of her brown eyebrows.

"Just a debt from the past… Well, it's time for me to go. I hope we'll meet at a better circumstance next time." The blonde turned around and faced his bodyguards.

Reno and Tseng both nodded before they headed to the opposite directions. The raven haired man followed Rufus who walked away from the brunette while the redhead approached her.

"Let's go." Reno stood behind her and guided her shoulder to the direction that his boss had just disappeared to, not long ago.

"Go, where?" Sei tried to stop dead on her track but kept on moving forward due to the force applied on her back.

"Out of here." Was his only answer as they walked further away from the crowd, the redhead rarely spoke in a way like that, and it really irks the brunette.

Short and direct was never Reno's fashion of speaking to people. And even if his speech was short, either it would always include some comical effect on the words that he used or his sentence was a complete joke, despite whatever situation they were facing. The only time that she remembered him speaking like this was when he was feeling down…or angry to himself. But even at those times, he would still try to make jokes out of the situation.

"What about work?" She tried to reason. The last thing that she wanted to do was stay at this dreadful place for another second, but facing her dad later was even a worse plan than facing the crowds which she would certainly have to do.

"It's my day off today." He countered easily as they passed the big, black, eerie cemetery gate.

She glanced back and saw a glimpse of her father who was still conversing with the priest like old friends who had been reunited after years of no contact. They look like the same age, maybe they really were best friends in the past, but that was none of her concern now. "My father-" Sei tried again but was silenced by Reno's serious tone which rarely came out of his mouth.

"Your mom gave me the permission to take you." With that, the brunette sighed in relief and started to walk keenly on her own. She knew that if her mom had given the green card, her stubborn dad wouldn't be able to object with his full force, thus saving her some time and energy to scream at him.

The couple walked towards the black familiar bike and hoped on their usual position, the redhead in front of the steers while the brunette behind him, arms firmly wrapped around his middle.

The engine roared to life as soon as he handled the steers and accelerated into top speed without any further ado, escaping from the grieving grounds…and the prologue of their new life.

* * *

The quiet trip (Save for the constant buzzing of their mode of transport) gave time for her mind to wander aimlessly. When was the first time she felt close to the doctor, or to be precise her newfound grandpa? They had just met about 7 months ago when she got sent to Gaia and faith decided to play against her.

Was it when he told her the story of his long lost son, who was actually the man who had lived with her for her entire life? Or was it when she found out about the real solid bond between them and their blood ties?

No, it was none of those sentiment moments.

The first time she really felt close to him was that night of utter horror. The first night when she had tried to sleep after she had remembered the true incident behind her arrival in the foreign world she was currently in, and the night after she had knowingly tried to save her heart, albeit killing it with the redhead's.

The brunette spontaneously tightened her arms around his waist and buried her face further into his back. Thinking of that day was already shaking her feelings up to her limits but the memories were still as clear as day in her mind, as if it had just happened yesterday.

_She woke up frantically with a bad feeling stuck in her chest when a hand shook her shoulder, lightly. The gentle touch felt like a heavy jab in her dream and startled her back to reality. _

_Her breathing was ragged and hard as she stared to the ceiling with wide eyes. A whimper escaped her dry, parted lips as a tear trickled down the side of her face from the corner of her eyes. Sei rested her arm on top of her foggy jade orbs and tried to stabilize her respiration when a voice startled her. _

"_Seira?" The low, raspy voice of an adult male made her jumped on the spot. The brunette immediately rubbed her wet and sticky face with her hands in attempt of washing away all of the remnants of her previous feelings, sadness and fear._

"_Are you alright? You were screaming-"_

"_Yes, I'm fine. It's just a nightmare." She sniffled forcefully in a last effort to stop her leaking tears and sat upright with the help of her trembling hands._

"_You sure?" The elder placed a hand on her forehead and his own. "You're having a light fever. You just need some more rest."_

_The brunette placed a hand on her own temple and felt the warm surface. "I'm going to sleep again." She heaved a sigh tiredly before lying down again._

_Doctor Rayne sat on the side of the bed as he helped her down and tugged the covers below her chin. "Sleep tight, I'll stay here till you sleep." The words automatically slipped out of his mouth. It was the words which his wife used to say to his son if he woke up from a nightmare. _

_Seira just closed her eyes and silently felt grateful for his offer. She hadn't been pampered like this since a long time back. And even though she usually preferred to be alone at times like this, a company wasn't too bad for a change._

The abrupt halt of her current ride brought her back to the harsh reality. She loosened her suffocating grip (which would've made any normal people uncomfortable with) around his middle before realizing that her entire body was trembling.

The brunette raised her head and rid the mist on her vision with the back of her hands, allowing her to catch a glimpse of the old church for a while before it was raided by moistness which always builds up whenever she blinked her eyes.

The redhead stood up from his bike and swept the brunette up to his arms before she could even place a firm foot on the ground.

"Re, I can stand by myself." Sei protested with her tired voice and a weak push on his chest.

"You can barely hold your feelings." The redhead said over the loud trudge of his heavy shoes against the wooden floor and the still air.

She just stayed silent, unable to think of anything sane enough due to her current fatigue and pending breakdown. The unbearable short walk finally ended as the redhead took a seat in one of the few robust pews and placed his lover on his lap.

The brunette opened her mouth to protest about his behavior before her face was shoved into the wall of muscle and a muffled, protesting "Reno" was heard and cut off by the said man.

"We're alone now. You can cry as loud as you want. No one is going to hear you here." He tangled his hand on her golden-brown locks and caressed the soft fibers.

Her resisting hands immediately fell limp to her sides. She leant forward and buried her small frame deep into the inviting warmth and soft fabric.

Reno felt a bit relieved and leant his head back as he heard a soft whimper and a little moist gathering on his shoulder from the brunette on his lap. His job was done, he knew that she would feel way more better after she had cried and let her feelings out, but the caliber of her sudden outburst still came unexpectedly and caught him of guard.

She led her arms around his neck and embraced it with all the energy she had left, loud cries suddenly filled the silent holy place and the redhead almost flinched visibly every time she wail out the grieve out of the deepest depths of her heart.

* * *

The redhead sighed tiredly after the place once again grew silent except for the even breathing of his love. The redhead watched as her chest heaved up and down in a slow and steady pace as he carefully lifted her up in his arm and exited the room, but not before glancing back and whispering a short thanks to the deceased, silent watchers.


	3. The Begining Of An End

_A/N: Here is the next chapter! Thank you for the reviews Anexi and Divine, and yes I understand it perfectly fine!_

_R & R_

* * *

The anxious man who had his hair disheveled as if it had been yanked over and over again, paced back and forth restlessly in front of the still door, finally directing his panic attack to his wife and younger brother who were sitting calmly on the sofa in the living room. "Why did you let him take her?"

"How many times should I say, she's going to be alright with him." Recca sighed in exasperation and said.

"Who knows what that spoilt brat would do to her?" His physically older brother countered with a desperate flail of his hands to emphasize his point.

Spoilt brat? The younger man squinted and frowned at the idea. How the hell did his brother come up with that name? Oh, probably because of the big apartment and the redhead's cocky attitude and his brother's lack of 20 years worth general knowledge about Gaia.

No one would call a Turk 'spoilt brat'. Everyone knew them…the people behind Shinra's dirty jobs, including assassination, espionage, abduction and many other countless, unimaginable and immoral practices.

The raven haired man was about to protest at his stubborn brother again when a hand gently tapped his shoulder and stopped him. He looked back and met his sister-in-law's tired chocolate orbs. He rolled his eyes and sighed for the countless time that day before he stood and walked up the stairs, leaving the older couple alone.

"Don't worry. He's not just a spoilt brat." She sighed before walking over to her pacing husband and placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him dead on his track.

"How do you know? He perfectly fits my description of a punk." Kyle scowled at the thought of the redhead before staring back to his wife, expecting a good reason from the usually wise woman.

"He was once a broken man, maybe Seira or someone else had brought him back on track. His eyes tell it all." Reina just smiled sweetly at his confused husband and hugged him before leading him to the sofa that she had once occupied before.

Reina had been a woman like this even before they first met. Kind, wise, honest but strict at times she needed to be. She was one of the women who he could sacrifice his world for their happiness. She just always seemed to know the answer for everything that he didn't know, adding to the reasons for him to fall Head over heels with her when he was confused after arriving in a foreign world without any damn clue about it.

He followed her reluctantly and finally settled himself on the white couch, while his beloved wife stroked his golden brown locks and rested her head on his broad shoulder.

She knew that the death of the doctor, his father who he had just met again after years of separation affected him more than it affected anyone else, even more than Sei. It was only his pride which was stopping him from shedding more tears than her and everyone else.

Why should her husband and daughter be so hard and stubborn? She massaged the frown on her temple with her other hand and sighed.

Three hours had passed after the young couple's disappearance when the doorbell rang and alerted the whole house.

Kyle was the first to arrive at the door and immediately pulled it open with unnecessary force while the other house's inhabitant calmly walked up behind him. Recca scratched the back of his head and stifled a yawn from his previous slumber while Reina cradled Reno Jr. in her arms and took a peek from her husband's towering form.

The redhead stood erect on the entrance with a still brunette in his arms. Her chest heaved up and down rhythmically, a frown graced her forehead and her eyes were tightly shut.

"Take her up." The sonorous order from the older man broke the tension in the air and the redhead compelled as he moved away from the entrance and up to the stairs, ignoring the stares of amazement from everyone else.

Reno never expected it to be this easy, he was expecting some cursing and punches to be thrown at him as soon as he showed his face to her father, but a fierce glare was all he got. Not that he was asking for more.

He walked pass the grudging man and went up the stairs, accompanied by the rhythmic thump of his shoes against the wooden surface. The Turk swiftly pushed the door latch down with his elbow carefully, evading Sei's head from the hard concrete wall and gently placed her on the single bed, leaving the door behind him to close by itself.

The redhead pressed a kiss between her knotted eyebrows and jerked his head up when the door was forcefully slammed open not long after it went back to its frame with a pleasant click.

"Get out, now." Was the only comment that the intruder was able to say without sounding so vicious and venomous. He scowled and threw his daughter's lover a deadly glare before he lost all the control that he had tried to muster in the last few hours and stomped his way down the stairs, heading out of his deceased father's house which was officially his now.

"Thank you for bringing her back safely, Reno." The tender voice sounded like the most melodious sound after the previous malicious, snarl-like voice which had been directed to him.

Reina stepped into view with the hyper, raven haired infant in her arms and walked pass him towards her daughter. "Knowing her, she probably won't wake up until tomorrow. So, how about you come again the next day?" She offered a smile and patted his shoulder.

"Yes ma'am, I'll definitely come back tomorrow." Reno shot a smirk and ruffled the toddler's black mane before strolling out of the room.

She sighed tiredly as she heard the front door opened and closed simultaneously. If only her daughter or husband were less stubborn and more understanding, they wouldn't be having such a hard time like this.

Reno junior reached his hand out which brushed her chin and woke her back up from her trance. She pressed a kiss to her son's temple before giving another lighter one to her sleeping daughter. "Good night, Sei."

* * *

The night went fast without her accompaniment and without his notice he was already standing in front of gramps house again, pressing the bell once, twice and thrice before he got his usual glare(even fiercer than usual if possible) from his soon-to-be father in law.

"What do you want?" He leaned his body on the door frame and placed his hand across the other side, blocking the redhead's way in.

Reno was just about to greet the elder man casually when he was cut short by a woman's higher voice. "Reno? You came at a perfect time, can you help me here? " His soon-to-be mother in law was always a life savior in awkward moments between the two men.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll help with what I can." He suppressed a small smile of relieve when he realized that Kyle was still glaring and blocking almost three quarter of the only way in. The Turk bent his head hesitantly in attempt to fit in the little space provided but ended up squeezing in between concrete walls and human meat.

He finally succeeded pushing himself in but not before shoving the persistent man out of the way. "Sorry" He said timidly and sprinted straight forward without daring to look back at the owner of the malevolent vibe.

"Can you move these things upstairs?" The older woman pointed to a brown filling cabinet which was stacked with a pile of thick books on top of it, as soon as the redhead was inside the living room.

Reno bent down, placed a firm grip on either side of the rectangular box and lifted it up with quite ease which surprised the woman who was staring in awe. "Where should I put this?"

"Follow me." She smiled and led the way while he whose face was now blocked by the pile of books that he was carrying followed by taking occasional glances beside the dusty compilation of papers. "Why do you like her?" The question was suddenly shot out of the kind woman's mouth.

"W-w-what, what?" The ex-womanizer Turk's tongue suddenly went numb at the sudden question, as if he was a young, normal teenager who was caught staring at the girl who he had a crush with.

"I mean Seira, silly! Who else would I refer to?" She gave him a tight slap on his forearm which made his hold slipped for a moment and almost dropped the whole content of his hands tumbling down the stairs.

The redhead was truly glad that his dumb stricken face was hidden by the books that he was carrying and not seen by the chuckling, devious, but kind woman. Or was she laughing because she had seen it…? "I… love her because she is herself." He stated simply.

He had always been a sweet talker even before he had learned to talk properly, but at times that he lost words to start with, he would stammer and fumble and fail miserably to verbalize what was in his head. Hence he decided to give a short and direct answer rather that disgracing himself in front of the woman who could decide the future of his relationship with the brunette as easy as turning the back of her hand.

"Nice answer." She paused and sighed before continuing. "She had always been like this since she was small, wearing a mask to cover her true feelings from everyone else without realizing it herself. She always handles her difficulties by herself and rarely wants us to get involved in it. Her school life that we know was always full of jokes and laughter with her friends, never of the fights or insecurities that she felt… but mind you, she is not as strong as she looks."

"I know, she was so different when I first met her." A small smile crept on his lips as he remembered his first meeting with the panic brunette. She accused him as a pervert then landed a blow on his gut, making him fall to the ground and taking her down in the process. And the next hour, she was crying in his arms, vulnerable and confused with her current situation.

" I don't know what happened to both of you when you first met but she is usually shy around new people. Well, that's another story to hear later. You can leave it here." Reno could swear that he heard a snicker and the elder woman was smirking at him, but he immediately shrugged off the feeling and placed the box on the floor that she was pointing at.

"Seira's still sleeping in yesterday's room, sometimes that girl gets a little too carried away when it come to sleep. Just wake her up and tell her to eat, okay." She requested knowingly and descended down the stairs without waiting for an answer. "And one more request, please. Take her for a walk when she's all set up. She needs lots of fresh air."

"Yes, ma'am." He replied to the woman who was already lost from his view. Damn, why did he always lose words in front of her? It was as if something was sticking both of his lips together when she was speaking and he just sounded too quiet (which he himself felt was really, _really_ out of character for him).

The redhead sighed and ran a hand through his fiery red locks before opening the door to the boyish room where his lovely sleeping beauty was waiting for his kiss (or that was just what he wanted to do).

The room was only illuminated by the burning sun's rays which managed to slip through the curtained window. Seira was sleeping soundly with her back facing him: her head nestled comfortably against a fluffy, soft looking pillow while part of her covers was cradled tightly in her arms.

He flicked the switch beside the door which made the lights above them flare into life and sat on the edge of the bed, leaning his back on the headboard comfortably before caressing her soft cheek with his callus fingers.

He could feel himself changing since the first day he met her, he became more…more human if that was what he felt now. She invoked a feeling which had been long buried in the deep depths of his heart, the feeling of wanting to protect someone important. He couldn't even imagine her getting hurt now, what could he do if she left him again? He would not die, but he would definitely be a broken man without enough parts to fix him back. He would have a deep, empty hole which wouldn't be able to be filled even by his best friends or anyone else that he knew.

The brunette stirred and turned as her eyelids fluttered open. A smile graced his lips and lightened the previous frown on his temple.

"Good morning?" She startled herself at the sudden guest who came to her view and groggily rubbed her dazed jade orbs with the back of her hands.

"Its good afternoon, milady." He chuckled and pulled his still half awake lover to his lap. "How are you feeling?"

"Never better than this." She scoffed and nestled her head comfortably on the redhead's chest.

"You have to go down and eat." He absentmindedly twirled and thoroughly fingered the soft fiber of her curly locks with the tip of his thumb and index finger.

"I'm not hungry." She stated boldly, just to receive a serious rumbling protest from her own stomach.

"Seems like your body doesn't agree to that." The redhead stated playfully while his trademark smirk crept to his lips which was currently against her forehead.

"Re, my head hurts, just let me sleep again." Sei reluctantly raised her head and shifted her body back to her previous position, just to be pulled back with an arm wrapped tightly on her waist this time.

"I know how to distract your headache." His smirk turned into a grin as he started to rained kisses all over her still sleep mystified face.

She softly giggled at the lingering trails left by the Turks' lips and placed her hand on top of his which was currently resting on her stomach. "Is this how you're planning to distract my headache…? I don't think its working, you're making me dizzier."

"No, it's not my plan. I'm just warming up." And with that Reno's lips were devouring her smaller ones, not even letting her to react at his previous cocky remark.

She moaned as his wet tongue delved in further and one of his hands cupped her cheek and tilted it up to gain him more access.

They were out of breath when the couple was going to part from their heavy, wet and erotic make out session. Seira was bringing their lips together again, while Reno's hand had already wandered inside her shirt when a protesting grunt surfaced through the moan filled air.

The couple went still and silent for awhile, as if they were just caught and realization hadn't hit them thoroughly. Another grunt was heard and a small movement in the pool of sheets beside them caught their eyes.

"Reno?" She blinked hard and called out, receiving a reflex yes from the man behind her and a louder squeal and more movements from the unknown source beside her. Her hand frantically reached out to the scrambled blanket all over the bed and started to throw it aside, revealing the raven haired infant who was thrashing and kicking his way out of the suffocating endless fabric which didn't budge by his previous actions.

The brunette weakly smiled to his young brother who was now squealing and reaching out his small fingers towards her. "When did you get here?" She ruffled his black mane before taking him to her arms.

"I should've known!" The redhead groaned in frustration and gave one of his fingers to Reno junior who immediately seized them and shook it around like a rattle toy with his tiny, five fingers death grip applied on it.

The sweet tone of her giggle filled his ears and she felt his chest vibrate against her back as he joined in with a big grin plastered on his face. "Mom must have placed him here this morning."

Reno finally sighed in defeat and stood up, but not before giving her nipple a squeeze which made her gasped in surprise.

"Re-" She was suddenly thrown to the air and landed in his arms before she could protest or shout at him.

The redhead laughed with the brunette and her hysteric younger brother who squealed in excitement in her arms. "You have to eat and then I'll bring you to Seventh Heaven. You didn't really meet Tifa and the others yesterday, right?"

Despite the strong urge to slap her lover straight on the head because of his perverted actions and the trashing infant in her arms who she felt could fall if she relaxed her grasp on him, all she wanted to do right now was to hug and kiss the redhead all together.

Reno always knew how to cheer her up, even when she felt that nothing could make her laugh again and all she wanted to do was just cuddle up under her blankets and drift off to the darkness which would make her forget. There were no words which could define her current gratitude for his presence now, and all she could do was press her lips against his cheek and whisper a small "Thanks" to her one and only redhead.


	4. Calm Before The Storm

_A/N: Sorry guys for the late update, there was just too much work to do and less time to finish it all, so please bear with it. _

_Thanks and kisses and hugs goes to my faithful reviewers Anexi and divine-insanity-x love ya guys and your lovely reviews, I want to see more please :P_

_Here is the next chap, R&R!_

* * *

The brunette sighed in annoyance as she tightened her grip on Reno's waist and adjusted her face restlessly against his back.

She felt sick as soon as she came out of her new house.

If only they weren't halfway to Edge at god-knows-what speed, she would've ran back and lock herself in her comfortable room and sleep some more.

"What's wrong?" The redhead shouted over his sleek, black bike's loud engine.

"Nothing, Just a little dizzy!"It took her awhile to find her voice. Dizzy was a major understatement of what she was feeling now. Lightheaded, hungry, tired and nausea was currently combined in her system.

She finally pressed her warm forehead against his back and shut her eyes tight, hoping that her queasiness could disappear in no time and maybe she could even fall asleep despite the bumpy ride she was on.

The ride felt longer than it should be, it felt like hours even though it was just a thirty minute ride, and much to her despite she felt worst than before. Her head was now spinning aimlessly and the pounding on her skull was almost unbearable. Breathing and keeping her eyes open took double the usual effort and her whole body was trembling while her stomach churned uncontrollably.

Reno turned off his bike's sonorous engine and hopped off his bike while the brunette pushed herself up, almost falling in the process of swinging her leg over the leather seat.

The redhead swiftly caught her arms and placed a firm arm across her waist, leaning her to his body and guiding her frenzied movements.

"Tifa, can you get some food for her?" He immediately greeted the barmaid behind the counter as soon as he kicked the door open since his hands were full of the brunette.

"What's wrong?" Tifa asked with concern all over her face before making herself busy with the cooking utensils displayed in the china cabinet behind her back.

"I'm okay, just a little tired." Seira said as Reno helped her to the sofa in the corner of the room just beside the door. Her vision was blurry, like an ugly TV transmission which had spots covering its original picture. Her body was moving out of control. She stretched her arms out on the table and let her face fell with a loud thud as soon as she sat and shifted away from the ledge of her seat to make sure that her position was secure enough not to let her stumble down to the floor.

"I told you to eat more." The lazy Turk scolded as he bumped his bottom down the sofa.

"I wasn't feeling hungry before." She retorted with a muffled voice from her buried face.

Their argument was cut short by two sets of footsteps running down the stairs. "Sei-neechan!" The little voices sounded like a scream to her dazed senses.

"Yes!" The brunette answered in reflex and immediately hoisted her head up and looked at the owner of the voice.

A hyper looking Marlene and her not so-hyper friend Denzel shouted in unison. "Sei-neechan, let's play!"

"Yo, what about me? Did you guys forget about me?" The redhead interfered and held his heart in a mock hurt expression.

"Of course not, silly. Let's play together!" The youngest brunette chirped.

"Hey, calm down guys." Reno propped his elbow on the table and bent down to the children's eye level. "Sei-neechan ain't really feeling well, you guys have to be happy with me for the moment. So, what are we playing!" He stood up and chirped cheerfully, trying to raise the two kid's mood. They dragged him up the flight of stairs behind the counter as their voices sounded more and more distant as they disappeared.

Seira sighed in relief as she let her face fall again to the hard surface of the table. "I owe you one, Re." She whispered and felt her stomach growled as the sharp smell of various spice passed through her nostrils. The sweet scent of tomato, sugar and basil delighted her mind as the sour taste of vinegar and lemon melted in her mouth and made her jaw clenched in the flavor. The drizzling sound of her future food dancing in the heat made her swallow in anticipation.

"Here's your spaghetti and ice lemon tea." The brunette sprang up and sat straight at the sight of a big plate of what resembled spaghetti served with tomato sauce and a tall glass of ice lemon tea with a slice of fresh lemon was perched decoratively on the brim of the glass.

"Thanks Teef, I'll dig in!" Seira grabbed the silver plated fork beside her plate and began twirling the yellow with red sauce pasta with the cutlery on her trembling hand.

The first bite was unimaginably wondrous, she shut her eyes in ecstasy as the warm cheese melted in her mouth with the sweet tomato which kept its taste proportional, not too salty nor too sweet.

She munched the soft yet malleable pasta slowly, savoring every different taste that it produced on her tongue. " Tifa, this is wonderful." She said with a mouthful while her hands were already twirling the next batch for her to devour.

" Glad you liked it, eat slowly and just call me if you need anything else." The barmaid left the brunette, who was in her own paradise, sighing in pleasure after every different flavor which touched the tip of her tongue.

"Hmm, that looks nice, are you finishing it by yourself?" The redhead stared hungrily at the ten inch round china plate.

" Yes, I am. Don't even think of touching it." She brought the plate closer defensively and slurped in another string of the delicious noodle to her mouth.

" Fine, I'll just order another plate." He pouted and strolled back to the counter where Tifa was busy by herself wiping small shot glasses and plates. " Teef, can you make me another plate? The kids are upstairs with Cloud. Lacking some deliveries, huh?" Reno slurred as he sat on one of the stools near the brunette barmaid and lazily rested his chin on top of the counter, tilting back his chair in a dangerous manner which would usually made Tifa and Elena lecture him.

If it was a cartoon or comic, a vein or two would have certainly popped out of Tifa's forehead."Starting from this week, Strife delivery service will be taking a day off every Monday, like the bar. Deliveries are never running better than this, Reno." She retorted, annoyance evident in her voice.

It seems like annoying people are one of Reno's natural talent, even when he didn't really mean to. But this was Tifa in discussion here, isn't she usually immune to Reno's antic? Talk about weird.

"Okay, Teef, never meant to offend you, you usually just ignore me…you sound like a pregnant woman with overly abundant hormone…are you?" The redhead furrowed his brows and was replied by a harsh cough resulted by chocking by the brunette behind him and a blush on the older brunette's pale cheeks in front of him. "What? Like seriously, no shit, you're pregnant?" He snorted as a wide grin slowly crept to his face.

Tifa flushed and tried to cover the obvious color rising to her face, but to no avail succeeded. She nodded sheepishly as Reno howled and cheered, causing a blond to show himself at the ruckus downstairs.

"Hey, what's happening here?" His gravity-defyer Chocobo-wannabe spikes stood out as usual.

"Hey, future dad! Never knew you had it in you, huh!" The redhead walked to the left out Cloud and gave a hard acknowledging smack on his back.

Realization struck the two time world savior hero late as usual. The corner of his lips went up for a while before he went neutral again and replied nonchalantly."You're one to talk."

"Tifa! Cloud! Congratulations!" The brunette clasped her hand together in front of chin and cheered with a mouth still occupied with her meal.

She stood up and gave Cloud a brief hug before entwining her fingers with the other brunette behind the counter. "You're going to be a mother." Sei smiled and whispered excitedly. "Since when?"

"It's been a month now." Tifa's smile widened further if it was possible and both of them giggled giddily.

" So, how are you feeling? Do you need any help or something?"

"No, no, I'm perfectly fine. Cloud had been helping me through a lot."

"Not too bad for a start huh, daddy Strife." Reno teased the silent blond as he leant his back against the counter, near the two women who were already busy chatting in their own world.

* * *

"Marlene said that they were going to make a surprise party for Tifa tonight. Wanna join?" Reno asked the brunette next to him, who was busy enjoying her desert; Tifa's homemade cookies and cream flavored ice cream topped with sprinkles of almonds and chocolate chips.

"Tonight? I would love to go if I could." She let her shoulder fell and wriggled her bottom further into the bench that they were sitting at in agitation.

Children were retreating from the new park in Edge as the sun descended down the sky with its previous blueness, leaving it with a dark orange pinkish hue to color the empty space. Reno was sitting with his arms draped behind the bench, one ankle on top of his other knee and his head leant back, gazing to the spotless sky.

"Cloud said you could stay over if you want." He dragged out his words as he stretched his lanky form like a cat, sound of bones popping visible to even the brunette beside him.

"Let me ask first, can I borrow your cell phone?" Sei freed her right hand by placing the small plastic spoon in between her teeth and took the PHS from Reno's offering hand.

The communication device's button was jabbed and pressed with ease and soon came to the brunette's ears.

Three rings were heard before a gentle voice came from the other side. "Hello, may I help you?"

"Mom, its Sei." She immediately replied as she held the phone to her ears against her shoulder and removed the plastic cutlery in her mouth with her now free hand. "Can I stay over at my friend's house tonight?" She asked and paused, anxiously listening to the other end.

She shook her head vigorously as if the other speaker could see and understand her desperate denial. "No, no, not in Reno's, I'm staying in Seventh Heaven, the bar that I've told you about before. Their holding a party for Tifa, her wedding is next week."

Another pause and a smile curled the corner of her lips up. "Thank you! I'll be back tomorrow afternoon. Bye."

"Staying over tonight, huh?" The redhead flashed his trademark smirk and asked deliberately in a teasing manner.

"Yup, I'm allowed to go tonight." The brunette handed the communication device to her companion and started to feast on the last spoons of her melting ice cream.

"Shall we go then? Tifa should be out by now, and the others must've reached and started decorating." The Turk let out a groan as he stretched out for the last time before he jumped up and stood up.

"Okay, I'm all set."

* * *

It was night time when the group was cleaning up the mess that they had made upon decorating the bar. Sei was introduced to the ex-terrorist faction and was immediately accepted with ease. After all, an extra hand could help greater than what was expected at times like these, even Barret who loathed the Turk whenever he was near Marlene didn't utter any verbal abuse or any single complaint when they were playing together.

Sei paced to the back door with a black garbage bag in one hand. The moon was high, Tifa could come home from her dinner with Cloud at any moment and the bar was literally still in a mess.

Behind the bar was a dead end, narrow alley which never seemed to be brighter than the Shinra Manor in Nibleheim. The place was eerily silent, not even a cricket or some gangster cat in some gangly fight dared to make noise.

The brunette hastily tiptoed towards the dumpster and lifted up its lid with her thumb and index finger, immediately throwing the plastic in her hand after enough opening was provided to slip the garbage in.

The small alley was only illuminated by the door which she left open behind her and some rays from the moon which hardy reached the small gap in between the two buildings.

Sei jumped when she heard the door slammed to its frame behind her and frantically turned back to reach for the door handle. But it was pitch black and as far as her hand could reach she only felt the flat walls and none of the metallic and erect door handle.

"Need help?" The voice echoed for awhile to make her realize that it wasn't her voice or any sound that she had unconsciously made. Her eyes widened as she pressed her back against the wall, still trying to search for the damn metal handle which wasn't supposed to be able to move.

"Is anything wrong, miss?" The voice came again and a boy came into view under the rare moonlight spots.

The boy stood up at about her chin, short dirty blond locks glistened under the moonlight as if a spot light was shining upon him.

Sei stared at the boy for a moment, scanning through his rough appearance from head to toe. He was clad in a dirty green T-shirt and brown cargo pants.

"Can I help you, miss?" The young boy's voice snapped her back from her trance and she sighed in relief as soon as she saw a pair of white sneakers on the asphalt ground. Ghosts weren't supposed to have a pair of legs, right?

"Yes, I'm a bit stuck here. I can't find the door and it's just too dark in here." The brunette turned around again and started to feel her hand around the wall when a sudden faint glow shone beside her.

"Use this." The boy offered a small, green glowing sphere in his hand.

"Materia?" She squinted as she identified the glowing ball before taking it to her hand. Was materia really this heavy? Is it just her or it looks way more lighter than it feels like on her hand. "Thank you, kid. What's your name?"

She asked as she guided the orb through the wall, but he was gone when she took a glance towards the boy's direction.

Silence was her first reaction. Sei shuddered at the thought of the weird boy who suddenly showed up out of nowhere and disappeared into thin air.

The door was easily found with the help of some illumination and she immediately went in without any hesitation, leaving the dark alley once again in its solitary silence.

* * *

Tifa and Cloud reached home right at the nick of time, the bar was clean and decorated nicely when she reached and received fierce hugs and kisses from everyone.

The whole group sat in front of the counter except for the soon to be bride and her groom who stood behind the bar. Midnight had passed and everyone was taking care of their drinks except for Yuffie who had already dropped face first on one of the tables behind them and the kids who were already asleep upstairs.

Chaotic was an understatement to describe the party, a combination of a drunk Cid and Reno had never brought anything good since they first met and the same goes for tonight.

The blond pilot who sat on the farthest stool in the corner emptied his fully filled shot glass in one gulp while his other hand twirled and rolled the little rolled up paper cigarette. He was starting to get pissed with the no smoking policy of the bar, not that he was never pissed about it, Tifa had made sure that no rules were to be broken(by none other than her infamous fist) but the stupid rule was starting to rub on his ass again now.

Barret who sat in between of Cid and Vincent stared hard at his glass, giving occasional glares to the redhead who was sitting on a stool in the other end of the counter, not that the Turk realized the glare which was supposed to shoo him away. They were separated by the quiet vampire like ex-Turk and the brunette beside him.

Vincent Valentine was the most mysterious member of the faction, his orbs could drown people in its crimson iris and his pale skin was too pale to be true. It looks like he could fade off at any second from everyone's eyes if he was not wearing the bright red cape and black garments which contrasted dearly with his white skin.

And Reno…was always the same ol' Reno. He was downing his drink like a camel storing up water in his humps after a long journey through the Sahara desert while he chattered non-stop with the couple behind the counter.

"Refill?" It took a moment for the brunette to realize that the question was directed to her.

"Yes, please." She answered the older barmaid and shook her head sideways, trying to clear up her dazed mind. She hasn't even drank half the normal amount that she usually let herself drink without getting drunk, but her head was already starting to get dizzy. That's the one thing she didn't like about bars without dance floors or any other way that she could vent out all the built up energy, the alcohol always affected her faster if she sat after she drank. Clubs were always a better option for her.

Tifa placed her shot glass back on the counter with a light thud. "Enjoy, by the way you can use the usual room upstairs if you're tired."

"Thanks, Teef." Seira smiled wearily before taking the drink in her hand. She drank the amber liquid sip by sip, letting the burning sensation in her throat settle down before taking the next swig.

The brunette propped her elbow against the bar and rested her cheeks on her hands as heat rose from her whole body. "I'll be heading upstairs first, guys. Goodnight." The brunette stood up groggily and received some nods and goodnights from the others as she walked towards the stairs and ascended up to her room.

A hand tapped at her shoulder when she was halfway through the narrow hallway on the second floor. Damn, was she that tipsy that she couldn't even focus on a pair of footsteps and realize that someone was approaching her?

"You okay?" The redhead asked with a smirk on his face.

That jerk, he knew that she was a bit drunk and followed her up. But despite the profanities running in her mind, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her temple on his collar bone. " It's getting hot in here."

He could feel her breath trickling down his chest even though he was still fully clothed, her raw voice was successfully turning him on and her burning skin was pleasingly pressed against the sensitive skin of his neck. "Shall we go to bed." Reno whispered on her ears with an equally raw voice as his tipsy lover's.

No reply.

The brunette's arm tightened around his neck and that was enough approval for him to carry her in his arms and throw her to bed.

Little that they now that the evil which was coming to them had started their move.


	5. Suspicion

_A/N: Fiuh I'm glad this chapter made it out before the weekend's over. Sorry if it's a bit leading to a rated M story, I don't know how my dirty mind made me lead it there but I don't think I would include any lemons here, except if you guys want it, you guys could just send me a PM or review on what do you want, should I just include it here or should I make another separate oneshot?_

_Sorry if there are any grammar mistakes, this chap was a bit rushed so I didn't really check it properly._

_Anyway, thanks for my constant reviewer Anexi, it always makes me smile when I know I'd succeeded in making another readable chapter. Keep reviewing and enjoy!_

_R&R_

* * *

The brunette cracked an eye open groggily and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands, trying to erase remnants of slumber from her jade orbs. Her whole body felt stiff and tired as if she hadn't slept at all.

Sei was lying on her side and starring hard at the wall that she was facing at, focusing her blurry visions as she remembered where she was, Seventh Heaven. She strained her neck and turned her head up, looking at the illuminated curtained window. It was dawn and there was not much sunlight yet.

Her head fell back on the pillow when she was pulled back by a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.

"It's still morning…" The redhead groaned behind her and pulled her bare back against his familiar toned chest. "Sleep." He caressed her head before drifting off back to dreamland.

A smile made way to her lips before she sighed in contempt and muttered sleepily. "Goodnight, Re." She hugged his bigger hands and followed him as she relaxed and once again closed her eyes.

* * *

The redhead strolled into the room after a fresh quick shower and stared at the brunette who was still sleeping soundly on the bed at the corner of the room.

The white cover was carelessly draped over her curves, covering half of her bare back which was facing him.

Reno lay on his sides and wrapped his arms around her stomach, pulling her closer before letting his hand roam about her pales skin below the thin blanket.

Seira moaned in response as his fingers delved in further between her thighs. "Re… it's still morning."

"it's afternoon, princess." He turned her around so that they were facing each other and stared at her half lidded jade orbs.

"Just give me another 5 minutes and I'll be up." She sighed as her eyes were once again closed.

"Do you need a kiss to wake you up, sleeping beauty?" Her lover protested by nuzzling his face on her neck.

"Hmm, maybe…" The brunette answered lazily, enjoying the last minutes of her peaceful rest and the next thing she felt was a pair of lips kissing its way through her collar bone up to her lips. Sei just kissed him back lightly, eyes closed, enjoying the one sided assault of his tongue.

"Isn't it time to wake up?" The brunette finally wrapped her arm around his neck and pressed her naked body harder against his clothed form as her senses regained perception from its previous dazed state.

"5 minutes…" He moaned out as he ravished her lips.

* * *

Their minute's excuses lured out for an hour until they were finally presentable again.

Sei had just finished wearing her undergarments, skinny jeans, and light blue tank top when she picked up her white jacket and felt a round, hard object in its front pocket.

The brunette held the smooth surface in her hand and inspected it in wonder.

The green sphere which was just a little smaller than a tennis ball was not glowing as radiant as last night in the dark, but its pearl-like surface glistened under the artificial light of the bathroom.

"_I'll just give it to Cloud or Reno later."_ She made a mental note to herself as she slipped her slender arms into the jacket's warm embrace and placed back the magic ball in the pocket right over her abdomen once her clothes were comfortably wrapped around her slim torso.

Sei descended down the stairs just to find Reno who was calmly sitting on one of the stools, sipping on his drink while a smaller girl sat beside him, head down on the counter with a glass of water beside her head.

"Where are the others?" The brunette called out, her voice echoed throughout the silent bar.

"Please…don't… shout." The smaller girl beside Reno who turned out to be Yuffie groaned, clutching her head in pain.

"I'm back!" Tifa suddenly burst in through the main entrance, carrying two bags of groceries towering over her tall form. "Thanks." She voiced out to the brunette who took one of the brown paper bag from her hand and placed it on the counter with a loud thud.

Yuffie winced at the sudden loud noise against her ears and whined as the loud thud echoed and pounded in her head. "Care to explain why is it only me with a hangover?" The hyper ninja protested, it wonders everyone how her own voice didn't add up to her headache.

"I'm used to it." Reno suddenly said with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"I can't be a bartender if I suffer from it every morning." Tifa shrugged before she started to move in and out of the kitchen behind the counter with her groceries.

"I…didn't drink that much." The young brunette supplied as she felt the hyper ninja waiting for her answer. Yuffie was just barely a year older than Sei which leaves her to be the one with the least age gap than the others.

But they had just met one night before, that too in a not-so-sober stat most of the time. So, while Yuffie who was always the social (too social much to everybody's liking) type had grown comfortable with the brunette, the latter haven't really bonded properly.

"It's because you're still too damn young, kid!" A rough voice shouted from outside, apparently the one and only almighty, pilot with the foulest mouth in the whole planet Cid Highwind could not take his unsatisfied smoke cravings anymore and moved out to take a drag or twenty.

"Shut yer trap, ol' man! I'm 21 this year, legal to do anything I want!" For once her voice seemed to affect her as she flinched and took a handful of her short raven locks after shouting out to the older man.

"Except for stealing, Yuffie." The door swung back and forth as the rumble-like voice filled in the room.

Sei was searching at her eye level for the new guest when she looked down and felt her eyes bulged at the sight before her. A red, fluffy looking dog-cat-lion like creature stared at the group with one eye while the other was covered by a vertical scar on it.

"Yo, Nanaki." The redhead greeted cheerfully and grinned at the red feline.

The brunette inwardly gasped and squealed in excitement. She had had an affinity for animals since she was small, especially for dogs with fluffy manes and the four legged creature in front of her was everything that she could adore despite the many scars which adored his skin.

" You know there's no word such as 'illegal' in my dictionary, Red." The Wutai native grinned from ear to ear at the feline's arrival and immediately launched herself at him, hugging and petting at his wild, fiery red mane.

Sei gawked in envy as she stared at Yuffie and Red XIII's fun brawl-like session. How soft and warm would his fur and large paws felt under her hands was all that registered in her mind, his speaking skills didn't seem to hit her as an odd occurring…yet.

"How's Cosmo Canyon doing, Nanaki?" Tifa asked, finally distracting the wise creature's attention from Yuffie.

"Nothing worth fussing about, just some humans trying to sneak in with some transform materia. We caught them before any damage was done though, don't worry."

"Materia?" Tifa's head bobbed up as she cocked her head to face him. Materia had been rare ever since Mako production was banned, which means materia wielder nowadays would either be strong, rich, or both, and being able to slip pass Cosmo Canyon's security…would certainly need a mastered transform materia and a capable user.

"No one knew how he really managed to sneak in but we got rid of him as soon as possible, no damage was confirmed." The red feline confirmed calmly, trying to ignore the hyper ninja's expression at the mere mention of materia.

Realization hit the youngest brunette in the room not quite hard, it seems like. Her eyes widened and flickered a few times before the low voice emitted by the red-whatever creature registered in her mind. Was that creature really speaking from his own mouth, or a device was attached so that he could voice out what it was thinking, but its mouth was so in sync with its words.

Tifa caught the unenthusiastic tone from her colleague and decided to drop the topic that most certainly was hurting his pride as the leader of the village which was usually dubbed as 'Valley Of The Fallen Star'. "Nanaki, you haven't met Seira right. She's the girl which I told you before." The barmaid behind the wooden counter finally introduced the brunette who was still slightly shaken up by her new discovery.

Nanaki or more known as Red XIII or simply, Red, trudged gracefully on all four and approached the flabbergasted teen. "I've heard a lot about you from Tifa and Cloud. My name is Nanaki." He stretched his paws up towards her and all she could do was squat down and shook his warm, soft paw with her mouths still agape like a dumbstruck idiot.

"W-what are you?"She asked in a hushed voice as if it was a taboo thing to ask.

"It's hard to explain, but I won't bite you or anything so you don't have to be afraid." His voice came out like a soft rumble and Sei was killing herself not to reach out her hand and start ruffling Nanaki's fiery red mane.

The red feline caught her hand's hesitant movement towards his head and moved forward to brush his mane against the back of her hand, realizing what she was trying to hold back since their first eye contact.

The brunette took this as a go-ahead sign and turned her hand around, immediately stroking the soft fur under her palm before she started to scratch under his chin.

He purred in response and nuzzled further into her touch. Sei smiled brightly at this and finally found her voice. "Oh my, you are so cute!" At this stage, her hands were already freely ruffling at the red mane.

"Me?" Reno pouted with wide puppy eyes, innocently pointing his index finger to his face.

The brunette snickered and playfully wrapped her arms across Red's neck."Are you comparing yourself to a…dog?"

"He's not a dog!" Yuffie countered even before the mentioned animal was able to protest. "He's a cat!" And received a faint sigh of annoyance from it.

"No he's not!" The redhead piped in this time. "He's a lion!"

"But he looks like a dog to me." Sei commented again.

"But he's a cat."The hyper ninja threw her arms to the air in exaggeration.

"A lion!" Reno joined in the girl's debate which ended up in the start of a childish argument.

The bickering finally ended after a vein popped out of the referred feline and Tifa threw a fist on the bar's counter, surprising everyone in the room that not even a crack was formed on the smooth black surface.

* * *

The sleek, black bike came to a halt in front of a classic, white painted two storey house. The brunette stood up and hoisted her legs over the leather seat to allow her full footing on the ground before glancing around.

What was this weird feeling that she felt. It was as if something was watching her, worst, it fell like something was eyeing her, hovering close around her. It didn't hit her until she left the bar and let her mind roam around during the journey back home but she was too damn tired to think what was bugging her until she had to stand up and walk again.

Sei couldn't help but remember her first meeting with her grandfather when the couple passed the green metal bench which was facing the small garden filled with petite colorful flowers. A ghostly smile graced her lips and the old funny man's face surfaced in her memories. She remembered when he told her about his lost son, which unexpectedly turned out to be her father. That thought had never even crossed her mind at that time. An unknown doctor from another world was her father's father AKA her grandfather by blood? Her imagination wasn't that good to come up with that one.

Reno pressed the bell, snapping the brunette from her reminiscing moments with its sudden harsh, high pitched noise that it made.

The door knob rattled for a while before a raven haired man in suit opened the door. The brunette cocked her brown eyebrows and threw the best questioning look that she had while the redhead just looked at his boss lazily and waited for him to give way for them.

Yup, it was Tseng who appeared from her house, not her uncle Recca who she had expected when she saw a glimpse of raven and evident Wutai features.

"Yo, director. How's work?" Reno asked deliberately, receiving an irritated growl from the stoic man.

"Today is not your day off, you're late."

"It's not like I got any job to do. Rude and Elena isn't even back yet." He spoke lazily in his usual manner of speech and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

The leader of the Turks just let out a tired sigh before noticing the curious brunette and greeted her. "Good afternoon, Miss Seira. I'm here to discuss the investigation of Doctor Rayne's death. We can start since everyone is present now. "

Tseng moved in and gave the couple enough space to walk through the hallway before walking back and locking the door behind them.

The living room was tensed with silence. Recca was sitting on the one seated sofa beside the three seated couch where Seira's parent sat.

"I'm going to change first!" The brunette announced and ran up through the stairs before anyone could protest, not even sparring a glance at her family.

She slammed the door behind her and immediately threw herself to the single bed, breathing heavily as if she had just won a long marathon.

What was she doing, running away like this? She knew that she would have to face everything sooner or later, but she still couldn't help it.

A sigh escaped her pink, pale lips before she hugged her pillow and closed her eyes for awhile, enjoying the solitude which surrounded her by just lying down without anything tugging at her head.

The clock ticked rhythmically, too loud for her liking and reminded her of the time which kept passing by and the people who were waiting downstairs. The brunette finally mustered all her will and hoisted herself up to her feet and started to strip before walking to her duffel bag on the floor and grabbed the most comfortable clothes that she could find, a big baggy white T-shirt and shorts which hung loosely around her waist.

The living room was still silent as she descended down the stairs, amplifying the dull thud of her red flip-flops against the wooden floor. She sat down next to her parents, propped her elbows on the soft arm rest and pressed her cheek against her palm.

"I assume that we can start now?" Tseng stood in front of the coffee table, across the couches which were occupied and stated, rather than asked before starting.

"Doctor Rayne's body was first found by one of his patient who came on daily basis at about 10:30. Predicted time of death was two hour before the sighting. Cause of death was a single gunshot through the heart…no sign of struggling or any other form of assault." He flipped over the pages of report in his hand before continuing. "However, a suspicious call was made by a man from Wutai on the night before. Elena and Rude went there to investigate yesterday and will be coming back this evening."

"Murder weapon?" Sei absent mindedly inquired the first question which she remembered was usually asked in detective movies that she watched. She knew that she should've make herself sound more concerned and all, but everything just passed by too fast and the fatigue which kept building up and wasn't showing any sign of going was already taking a toll on her body.

"The gun was found beside the body, clean without a single print on it and only shot once. Everything that we've found out is written here." The Turk informed in a calm demeanor and placed the pile of papers from his hand to the table.

Kyle suddenly snatched the report from the coffee table before anyone else was able to react and digest the previous information which was just thrown to them. "Fujitsu Kino? I had met him when I was small. He was my father's friend from Wutai." The eldest man in the room raised an eyebrow as he read the file and tried to dig further through his memories.

At this moment, Seira had already rested her eyes and just let her ears and mind do the work for her.

"Can you remember anything else about him, Mr. Howard? Anything trivial could even be a help." The raven haired man urged and squinted in concentration as if it could help the other man think faster.

"I remember that he was weak, and he suffered from acute cases of heart problems since he was small if I had not mistaken." His brother finally supplied which seemed to be triggering some more information from his older sibling.

"Yeah, I remember now." Kyle bent down and buried his face in his hands, showing that he was concentrating and trying to use his brain in full capacity. "He was a friend of my father when he was still living in Wutai…he came quite a few times until they fought on something and that was the last time I saw him again."

"They fought? Do you remember what was it about?" Tseng's ears seem to perk up at this new intelligence like a dog's ears due to an intruder's noise.

"It was…something about the upcoming Wutai war if I remember correctly."

"Okay, we'll check more about it and update as soon as possible."

* * *

Three raps at the mahogany door were heard, noticing the busy raven haired man about his butler's arrival. "Come in." He announced without looking up from the papers which were neatly scattered on his desk.

"Is my aid needed?" The lanky, neatly suited butler bowed his head down politely before asking.

"Prepare some coffee." The busy looking man signed another paper and placed it on a stack of papers in his out tray as he simply stated without giving a glance at him.

"Yes, sir…and if I may ask something." He asked again, trying to get his employer's attention.

"What is it?" The man finally lifted his head up and showed his brown orbs to his employee. Short raven locks were neatly combed back without a strand of it on his face.

"How was the interrogation, sir?" His voice wasn't as loud as his first question and he absentmindedly ran a hand through his dirty blond locks.

"Everything went as planned. We just have to wait for her arrival." The businessman gave him a bored look as he focused back on his papers.

"But what if she didn't come as expected."

"I had left holes in my testimonies and alibi, I don't expect the Turks to be that stupid not to notice and if she doesn't come here…than we would just have to go there. It just saves us some time if she decides to approach us." He entwined his hand in front of his mouth which had formed into a malicious smirk.

"Yes, sir. I am sorry for the doubt. Your coffee would be ready in no time." The young looking butler bowed down and silently made his leave, trying to suppress a shudder which had silently crept behind his neck.


	6. When All Hell Breaks Loose

_A/N: Sorry for the late update, life had been just hectic these days. There were exams and trips and sickness and all sorts of things which prevented me to type, especially some writer's block._

_Reviews, please. What's so hard about typing a short (or long if you like) critic (no flames) or compliment about the story. I really need one to get me going with this story, so…R&R_

* * *

The brunette woke up with a jump, startled with the sudden loud, shrill noise of the doorbell. She quickly rubbed her eyes and glanced around, noticing that she had fallen asleep on the couch and was now lying on her back, legs and head propped on top of either side's arm rests.

Sei hauled her legs down to the floor and sat upright, surprised at how light her own body felt. When had she dozed off? All she remembered was resting her eyes when her father was discussing about Wutai with the others.

Well, who cares? The most important thing is everything went quite well, no one had even bothered to disturb her sleep and her body was feeling at the top of its height.

She lazily dragged her feet to the front door as the doorbell snapped her back to earth from her thoughts, not bothering to rub traces of slumber from her eyes or morning hair.

"Look whose up!" The redhead cheered as she opened the door and resisted the urge to slam the door right back at his face.

"Yeah, morning, Re." The brunette casually scratched the back of her head before she beamed with joy at the blond which had trudged pass Reno towards her.

"Seira!" Elena greeted her with a warm hug and a pat on her back.

"Elena! How's the baby? " Sei returned the warm embrace and smiled as she felt the rather hard-to-miss bump on her friend's stomach against her flat one's.

"She's fine-"

"She, It's a girl?" Her smile widened into a large grin and the pregnant Turk pulled back to meet her face.

"Yes, it's a girl." Elena placed a hand on her swollen stomach before the smile on her face faded into a tint of sadness. "Sei, I'm sorry for your los-"

"Let's speak inside. It's a bit hot outside isn't it?" The smile on the brunette's face didn't give a hint of change as she diverted the topic and invited both of the Turks in."What about Rude? Both of you just came back from Wutai, right?" She locked the door behind her and followed after both of the guests in front of her.

"Yes, he's currently with Tseng. They'll reach here soon." The currently one and only woman Turk frowned as she sat on the couch, followed by her friend which was still smiling without a hint of regret on it.

This kid certainly doesn't have any issues on hiding her facade, which was a big issue itself. Her grandfather had just passed away this week. It had certainly broken her when she first heard the news and now she was already able to smile without a problem? She certainly needed to give some of her excess controlling skills to the female blond Turk.

"Hey!" Sei's protest snapped Elena back from her usual reverie this time.

Damn, was she thinking out aloud again? She certainly hoped not, Elena cursed inwardly and sighed in relief as she realized that she wasn't the main reason for the female friend's protest.

The redhead had pulled the brunette to his lap, his lover's squirming and protest futile against his strong arms, which were firmly wrapped around her middle. "C'mon, babe. I don't see your parents around." He spoke against her shoulder before resting his chin on her collar bone.

She sighed in exasperation and gave up as she leant back to Reno's welcoming warmth before she reverted back her attention to the blond."So, when's the baby due?"

"About 3 more months."

"And why are you still working? Didn't Rufus give you any holidays?" The younger female made a face at the news and complained.

"Nah, I went to work by my own will. Doing nothing just drives me crazy." Elena waved a hand in front of her mouth dismissively, immediately calming her companion.

Sei didn't complain any further, she had known the feeling best from a firsthand experience by herself. When she was paralyzed and literally dependant on Reno to walk and do lots of basic stuffs, her life became so desperate and void. She couldn't do anything which could distract her mind, thus making her brain spin twenty four-seven about everything which she usually avoided thinking about. Crazy was an understatement of what she felt that time."So, how's pregnancy treating you?" She changed the topic and asked again with a bright smile on her face. And this one question was able to make the blond chat all day about her early pregnancy days, followed by her fellow redhead Turks colleague's exaggerating skills.

* * *

The trio was bent down, clutching at their sides while holding excruciating excess of laughter when a shrill noise announced that someone was waiting for entrance outside the house.

"W-w-wait, I'll be back." The brunette said, barely able to stand and hold back spurts of laughter from her mouth.

Both of the Turks ceased down their mirth into giggles while the other stumbled her way through the hallway and opened the door with her trembling hands.

The door was opened hastily as the doorbell rang again in demand. Two wutainese men revealed themselves, arms crossed in front of his chest while the other had his hand raised to the small annoying button beside the door.

Sei immediately doubled over and let out the laugh which she had tried to hold with all her might, receiving skeptical raise of eyebrows from her uncle and friend.

"Are you okay?" Tseng and Recca voiced out their concern in unison like a harmonious choir, just to receive more laughter from the younger woman.

The half an hour joke session with her lover and blond friend had certainly affected her greatly. She had forgotten when was the last time she had laughed as freely as this and allowed herself to let out all of her tension, so free that every small thing that she saw now could easily erupt laughter from her. "Do you know that both of you look alike?" She managed to say between uncontrollable chortles.

"Didn't you know that your grandfather originated from Wutai, which means that half of me and your father is Wutai too. And judging from his looks, Tseng here is apparently from Wutai too."Recca explained in a boring matter-of-fact tone, finding more interest at the sight in front of him. He had lived with his niece for quite some time and the amount of laughing that she was doing now seemed to be more than what he had ever witness in the last 7 months combined together.

"Yes, both of my parents are indeed from Wutai." The other man confirmed and said again as he realized that the brunette would not realize their agitated presence with the amount of focus that she was pouring to her current action. "May we come in now, Miss Seira. My friend here had just come back from quite a long journey and a seat is something that I'm sure he would really appreciate."

A shifting motion behind the Turks' leader immediately caught her attention. "Rude!" Her smile perked up as she moved between the Wutainese men and spotted the silent, bald man. "When was the last time I saw you, c'mon in!" She stated, rather than ask before the three men were pushed inside the house.

"Yo, Rude." Reno greeted, which was replied with a simple nod and a raise of the Turks' trademark shade as the guests made way to the living room.

"Where are your parents, Sei?" The raven haired man inquired as he scanned the room for his brother and sister-in-law's presence.

"I don't know, they were already gone when I woke up."The brunette who had somehow calmed down answered with her usual casual tone as she sat at her previous seat.

"Haven't they come back-" The door slammed open and said couple entered the living room. Kyle's hands were full with two big, brown grocery bags while Reina had her hand occupied by Reno Jr.

"Everyone's already here? Sorry if we made you wait." The elder woman apologized with a warm smile.

"No, ma'am. We've just reached ourselves." Tseng politely answered.

"Good, then you won't mind if we arrange these things in the kitchen for awhile, right" She placed the squealing infant from her arms to her daughter's lap before walking to the kitchen.

Sei rolled her eyes at her mother's antics. Most of the times, she could be the best understanding mother in the whole world, but there were also some times when she could never understand the situation and bug the crap out of her. Well, there isn't really anything she could do to change that apparently nobody is perfect really applies for everyone.

"Rude, Elena." The stoic Turk professionally addressed his subordinates, after everyone was finally gathered back in the living room.

"We had interrogated Mr. Fujitsu Kino, yesterday." Elena who was sitting in the three-seated couch with Sei and her mother started, aware that the bald Turk would certainly not provide any verbal report unless if she stayed silent for another hour and that was something she would avoid as much as she can. "He had an alibi during the time of death, not a solid one though. Said that he had been in his office for two whole days and replied every morning his servant called for breakfast. We asked the servants and they said that nobody had actually seen him during that two days, they just heard him."

"What about the call?" Tseng prodded for more details.

"He said that they were just conversing about old times."

"Any background info?"

"He lives in a mansion not so close to Wutai. We went to collect info about him in the village but none of them seems to be willing to share them. He seems to be quite famous in the village…in a bad way though."

"I know who would know about him." Reno suddenly spoke behind her, startling the trio who were sitting on the sofa.

"Who?" The brunette managed to ask the redhead who was already busy with his phone even before Tseng was able to further inquire.

"It's Reno." He said to the piece of metal stuck on his ear after a few moment of silently waiting. "You know about a guy named Fujitsu Kino in Wu-" The communication device was suddenly held away from his sensitive hearing organ before he could even finish his question and Yuffie's shrill voice rang throughout the room.

"_What the hell have he done again? And why the hell are you asking me, shouldn't you Shinra dogs knows him best?"_

"Calm down, kid. What's wrong with Shinra and him?"

"_I thought you Turks should know more than me! I was just fucking 9 during the Wutai war! " _

"Yo, I said calm down!" The redhead impulsively raised his voice, startling everyone in the room including the fuming ninja on the other end of the line. He placed the phone back to his ears and set it on loud speakers after making himself sure that no screeching would follow and damage everyone's precious ear drums.

"_Sorry, but before I answer…I want to know what he had done."_ Yuffie's voice was the first one to break the silence which had filed the room.

"Main suspect of Doctor Rayne's murder." The brunette's cold voice surprised everyone including its owner. What the hell did she just say? She was glad that she didn't say anything wrong or stupid, but her tone sounds way too heartless even for her own liking.

"…_Kicking him out of town isn't enough to stop him, huh."_ The hyper ninja paused and continued after another moment of silence. _"He was a Shinra spy during the Wutai war."_

"What?" Reno and Elena cried while Tseng and Rude just raised an eyebrow, the first deepened his frown while the latter shifted his weight from his right foot to the left.

"How could you guys not know about this?" The blond Turk complained despite the smile that she was trying to suppress and the fact that she was feeling happy for not being the only one in the dark this time.

Being the latest addition of the Turks and that too mainly because of the member crisis they were facing that time wasn't really an advantage for her. She never knew their detailed jobs before she joined in, save for the gossips that ran out of nosy people's mouth and why and how did her sister managed to retire from the infamous group…and having a sister from the earlier Turks batch was nothing but the opposite of help, investigating was never easy as the blond ex-Turks would always catch her before she had even started to hack on their files or moments before she succeeded, either by sheer luck or her sister had a third eye which was stuck on watching her every move.

All of the remaining Turks' including the redhead had preferred to keep quiet about the topic and she immediately knew not to press the matter when even Reno didn't want to share about it. And most of the time she would be left out on her own when the trio who survived and stayed after the whole ordeal went on to contemplate and reminisce about the past or a small mission with either direct nor indirect attachment to their past popped out of nowhere.

"We Turks are designed for stealth and confidential missions, conspicuous and strength dependant fights like the Wutai war are all handled by the SOLDIER unit." Tseng who had regained his composure (save for the deep frown on his temple) explained with his usual business-like, blunt tone.

"In simple, you guys don't have any clue about this man." Seira shot the words like bullets, straight to each of the Turks personnel.

"Ouch, babe." Reno couldn't help but comment, only to receive a glare from his lover's father.

"We can search for his data in the Shinra database through W.R.O's mainframe. If he truly works for Shinra during the Wutai war, his data would automatically be available." Tseng fought back, still in his stoic composure.

"And how long would that take?"

"2 weeks, latest."

"That's going to be too long. I'll go to Wutai." The brunette didn't falter a tad bit as she made her decision. Now that she was feeling strong, healthy and full of energy, her brain was starting to clear up and functioned properly after all of the rest that she had got. Nothing was going to stop her now. Determination flared in her heart, she was going to find her grandfather's killer and watch his punishment with her own eyes.

"I'll be going too." Her father joined in before anyone could protest.

"No…no, no, no, no, no!" The redheaded Turk raised his voice after every objection with a definite sideway shake of his head."You can't just go there and…investigate and ask him. That'll be so obvious, a suicide mission if he's the real killer."

"We'll just say that we're here for a vacation and visit him."

"And then?" Reno inquired annoyingly.

"We can talk to him and try to dig any info out of him."

"Elena and Rude interrogated him, and this is all we got." He shot back, much to the brunette's dismay.

A nerve popped out of the corner of her temple and her frown was now deeper than the leader of the Turks. She turned her head and glared at her equally stubborn lover, ignoring the stares from everyone who watched their argument in amusement and didn't dare to interfere."Why can't we just go and try? Be positive for a while can't you? " Her chest heaved rhythmically faster than usual as she finished shouting at the Turk behind her. She could bet a thousand gills that her face was flushed in anger, by now the burning sensation that had crept up her pale skin was certainly hard to miss.

"Well, sorry to break your dreams. But I'm not being the pessimistic one, here. You're the naïve one!" He raised his voice involuntarily and immediately regretted what he had just said. A hand reflexively covered his mouth, as if the previous flow of words could be stopped and erased from existence. Reno knew that he was really doomed this time.

Elena rubbed her furious friend's arm in an attempt to comfort and calm her down, if possible. She had never saw the brunette letting her emotions out freely, let alone till she was shaking in fury…or was it anguish, or maybe both? That she couldn't make out but one thing that she was certain. Reno was done for, either by his lover or by his own self consciousness.

The brunette's head was hung low, long golden brown fringe hiding her face (much to Reno's dismay) from everyone except her mother. The raven haired woman could guess what her daughter's face was like, even with the fiber curtains hanging over it. It would be of sheer pain and disappointment, years of watching her daughter grow since she couldn't even walk by herself, let alone hide her emotions and put up a mask of ignorance was more than enough to deduce all this.

"Sei-"After what felt like hours of silent, save for the furious brunette's heavy breathing. Reno opened his mouth and reached forward, just to be slapped away by the angered girl.

She jerked up and bobbed her head up, showing a glance of her face to the redhead before storming off to her bedroom upstairs.

Reno just stood dumbfounded with his hand slowly brought to his side. The light slap felt like a hit done by Cloud with his goddamn humongous sword. And her face, he had just caught a glimpse of it and it showed nothing of anger. It was pure sorrow and regret…and misty eyes.

He knew that she was still grieving over gramps death even though she smiled and laughed as if nothing had happened. He could see it by the way her eyes always darted away from the door leading to the clinic, the door which was still sealed with WRO's Do-Not-Cross line duct tape written all over it, and the way she let a sad smile crept over her lips whenever she thought that no one was watching.

But her fake smile still managed to fool him and made him think that she was okay without anyone's help.

The door slammed loudly and snapped the redhead out of his guilt reverie. His legs were itching to move, catch her and touch her and kiss her…he wanted to comfort her. But would the others let him?

Since when did he really care about other's opinion? The old him would certainly just run up after her and held her when she was still halfway through her room.

The awkward silence passed by before Reno finally ran through the stairs, saving a glance behind him to check if anyone was following him (surprisingly no one was) and made his way to the room. He was expecting Kyle to follow him or even threw him a nice fist flat on his face. But no one was there.

A lot of things changed since gramps left, it certainly didn't really show out but apparently a lot of people were affected by it… especially his oldest son.

And once again, all hell breaks loose.


	7. lamentations

_A/N: GAH! I am so so sorry about the typo mistakes! I just realized that the page break between scenes since chapter one didn't show up. I just reread the whole story and realized it, but worry not since I've fixed it._

_This story's update time will be extended into three weeks, since I'm sure you're sick of hearing my apologies and stupid reasons that I make about the one week late that I keep on doing since the last few chapters._

_Finally, I really need someone's suggestion about this story's rating. If you want me to keep it on a T, I certainly won't dare to write anything beyond what I've written till now and will keep it low on Reno and Seira's intimate part. But if you think that I've already gone beyond the T rate, then I'll probably change it into M and continue with more stuffs._

_Enjoy the next chap!_

_R&R_

_P.S I still get reviews and favorite alerts for' Love and Sin'. Want some for this story too, please._

* * *

Reno pressed his ears against the mahogany door, not in need of straining his ears to catch a muffled cry from the occupant inside the room.

The door unexpectedly creaked open when he tried to turn the door knob. It had become an old habit for him since god-knows-when, to try and open doors even though he knew it would be locked and a knock would be needed, for the sake of both privacy and notification of the host.

The brunette was lying down on her stomach, hugging a puffy looking pillow against her face with all her might that her knuckles were white with lack of blood.

The redhead sat on the side of the bed and let his leg brushed her bare arm to notify her of his presence, in case if she hadn't realized his arrival. After all, he was able to be second-in-command of the infamous group because of his skills (which he rarely showed), not looks which were almost the more obvious feature of him most of the time.

Sei immediately curled herself into a defensive ball in response to the unexpected contact, like a millipede which had just been poked and prodded by a group of elementary bullies.

He sighed in exasperation as he pulled his curled up lover to his lap. And here comes the hardest part…persuade her to open up and let everything out of her loaded chest.

"Sei…" He grabbed hold of both of her small wrist and tried to gently yank them away from her lovely soft cushion, much to no avail.

A muffled whimper escaped from the makeshift partition that she had made as she resisted and held her grip as strong as she could. But Reno wouldn't be called Reno if he just gave up, especially at matters about girls.

The ex-womanizer frowned and roughly yanked her hands apart, letting the white pillow slip and fell in between them.

The brunette immediately felt exposed and turned her face away as cold wind blew against her bare, damp skin. She felt like an uncontrollable mess. Correction, she is a total mess right now. Her hair must be sticking on her face due to the moist which she couldn't hold back anymore and had escaped through her tightly screwed eyes. She could feel her mouth forced to constrict into a pout, forehead pressurized into a frown and chin scrunched up. Her vision was as messed up as her irregular breathings, and the only thing which allowed her to identify Reno was the striking red blur that she could make out in front of her.

"Ssshh, I'm sorry for just now. C'mon, you can cry as much as you want."The redhead cooed as he pulled her still resisting hands to his chest.

She buried her face in his chest uncertainly after a moment of hesitation. God, how she hated looking as weak as this in front of anyone, her feelings were mixed up and overflowing, pooling over on the brim of her deep heart and slowly but surely spilling everything out at any single movement that she made.

Since when had she turned into this…mess? All she wanted to do right now was just scream as loud as she could. But her throat was jammed; whimpers would escape instead of words which she desperately needed to verbalize. Hot, fresh tears didn't fall freely from her jade orbs; instead it leaked and prolonged the time of its fall.

Since when had she learned to hold back her feelings with such expert? It had been so long that she had even forgotten how to let it all out. "I-if only I was-I was there-" The words came between sobs and hiccups, barely a whisper which only the trained Turk could hear. Her tightly clenched fist met with his hard, nicely toned wall of muscles in front of her in a weak hit.

The brunette's hit which collided to his chest after every complete word that she said, felt like a soft stroke, it was even weaker than her usual playful hit that she landed on him, when one of his haughty or dirty remarks would make her laugh and offended at the same time.

"If only-if only…I'm stronger-"She hit him for the one last time before she unclenched her fist and grasped at his white dress shirt, forming permanent wrinkles on the disheveled garment.

The redhead closed his eyes as she felt his lover relaxed and cried freely into his chest, he could lucidly feel the movement of the light frame on his lap, the way her trembling shoulders buckled against his middle, every time she jerked at every sob which she produced or the sharp intake of air which she took. Hot liquid dripping down his shirt would snap him back of time and he would pensively brush the back of his fingers against her damp face or land a kiss or three on her forehead.

* * *

A light rap on the door woke the redhead up from the light slumber which he had let himself fallen into. He cocked his head to the door and stared down when he felt that his body couldn't be lifted or moved.

Seira's chest heaved in an agonizingly slow pace. Her head had dropped from his chest to his stomach, which was now serving as a makeshift pillow. And the last thing that he wanted to do would be waking up the heavy sleeper with his reckless and sloppy rising movements.

Half of his back was lying on the bed while the other half was leaning back against the hard headboard. He stifled a groaned as he tried to straighten up his stiff spine and gently shifted the brunette's head to his lap.

Another sharp rap against the door snapped the redhead back from his watching reverie. And the door was already swung slightly ajar when Reno saw through the little gap that was opened without his notice.

A Wutainese male stood in between the small space of opening, waiting with arms folded across his chest for any sign of acknowledgement and permission to disrupt any private business which may be going on inside the room.

He was glad that it wasn't Kyle who came in, or he would certainly be on the hard floor as soon as he saw his daughter in such a compromising state (which wasn't even near to Reno's definition of an embarrassing position) with him.

Reno didn't believe his volume adjustment skills and decided to mouth his words when his sleep clouded brain had somehow cleared up. _"How long were we out?"_

"4 hours, dusk is coming." Tseng nonchalantly verbalized; his voice low but still clear as day in the redhead's ear.

"_So…what did we miss?" _ He mouthed again, while he ran a hand through his fiery red locks, a small gesture of anxiety and frustration which was growing on the pit of his stomach. Going to Wutai to meet the main suspect of gramps death as Sei had suggested would certainly be dangerous. While that Kono, or was it Kano, guy's main motives were still unknown…they currently had no enough background info about him and all of Shinra's dark, hidden secrets had never failed to surprise them, In a bad way.

"Seira and Kyle will be going to Wutai." The leader of the infamous Turks said before cutting off the redhead's protest and adding. "You and Rude are also going. Elena and I are going to stay and do an extensive research more about his affairs within Shinra."

"When are we going?" The redhead finally spoke. Frustration was clear in his voice, when he thought that he could just think of the future of their relationship which was really out of character for him. Problems just kept popping out of nowhere, first her unarguable father and now this.

"Tomorrow, you and Rude are going to depart first while the Howards would go back home to prepare and leave for Wutai on the next day. Briefings will be done tomorrow morning before you take off." Tseng explained briefly and turned back."You would want to wake her up, she's going to go back tonight and you have to prepare for tomorrow." And with that the doors were silently closed, once again leaving Reno with the soundly sleeping girl on his lap.

He sighed in exasperation and ran a hand again through his fiery locks before lightly shaking Seira's limp shoulder. "Sei, sei…" The redhead cooed at her ears, earning a protesting groan and a weak push which succeeded in pushing her head away from his lap.

The brunette curled into a ball beside him, who instantaneously pulled her back on his lap, this time making her sit upright and lean her back against his chest.

"Re, 5 more minutes…please." She bargained as usual and added an extra plea at the end of her request, hoping that her lover could just understand how bad she was feeling right now.

Each fiber of her hair must be out of its place and jutting out at every possible angle. Her eye lids felt like it had been glued to each other and opening it felt like ripping the thin skin apart. The muscles of her jaw felt stiff, and exhausted after all the crying that she did.

He entwined his fingers in front of her stomach, wrapping his arms around her waist and letting her enjoy his welcoming warmth.

Sei leaned her head at the redhead's shoulder and nuzzled her face on the crook of his neck. How she loved moments like this, just both of them, enjoying each other's warmth and company in a silent room. A routine, this had been, for them every time they had fought or another small problem was just solved. And it always helped them settle their moods to a much, better level.

She placed her hands on top of his bigger ones and bobbed her head up, pressing a kiss on his cheek.

"You're going home with your dad today." Reno finally broke the silence as he placed a kiss on his lover's forehead.

"Why?" The brunette jerked her head up and inquired as she stared at Reno's baby blue eyes with her jade orbs, inquiringly.

"Me and Rude are going to Wutai tomorrow morning, and you'll head there with your pops on the next day."

The news felt like a rejuvenating drink for her. She finally sat upright and turned around at the redhead's lap. Forgetting, or more like ignoring the fact that she was straddling her mischievous lover's waist. "Really, are we really going?" She further inquired, her cheery disposition finally settling back at her soft emerald orbs.

Reno smirked at the younger girl's usual eagerness that he hadn't seen for quite a while, and the fact that she was almost straddling his hips. His smirk eventually turned into a grin, much to the latter reason actually.

True that the last time he had seen her this exited was when they've finally met after their six month of exile from each other. And then everything happened too fast for them to catch up, they weren't given any time to enjoy their times together which were rarely there, either because of her father or other distractions which kept on happening.

He missed this side of her, the character who had always cheered him up when he was down or just too lazy to bother about the outside world, the girl who was able to snap him out of his four years of guilt and nightmares.

"Yeah, you're really going." For a moment, a small frown etched its way to his forehead before a smile erased any evident of it and he pressed his lips on her shoulder. "And do you wanna know something else?" He lifted his lips and whispered seductively to her ears.

"Hmm?" She moved her head away from his invading lips, giving him more access to the sensitive skin.

"You're really turning me on." The redhead cupped her cheek while his other hand found the firm flesh of her rear bottom and gave it a tight squeeze.

"Again?" She involuntarily gasped at the sudden pressure at the unexpected place and gave her lover a good smack on his shoulder.

Reno just continued raining kisses on her pale skin, attacking on her face when he felt her small hand push his chest when he was just about an inch from her lips.

"Close your eyes." The brunette taunted him by placing a finger against his assaulting lips, stopping him from his attempts of pushing it forward towards her inviting lips.

"What?" He groaned but involuntarily did as he was ordered when he found no signs of the stubborn girl backing down and the small index finger which was still pressed against his lips.

He felt her smooth skin brush over his chest as she worked with the buttons on his white dress shirt in an amazingly slow speed. And when she finally reached the last button, he couldn't help but let a sigh escape from his lips.

Reno felt her heat left him as she swiftly swung her legs over his thighs and moved away. He instinctively moved forward, not willing to let go of the needed heat and friction, and tried to catch her but met nothing but thin air.

Warm flesh was suddenly pressed against his lips as it guided his backside, back against the headboard. Her lips left him as he was just starting to move against it and she ran her nails down along his chest to his navel, giving an extra pinch at his exposed nipple.

The redhead could feel his pants tightening in anticipation and the door was suddenly slammed. He jerked his eyes open and braced himself for a fist or profanities to be thrown to him but found nothing, not even a brunette.

The strings of curse left his mouth as free as the flow of the Lifestream. Dammit, how could he not realize her retracting form? He was too concentrated at the trails left by her fingers that he didn't realize that the true object has left his skin.

Reno ruffled his disheveled locks in exasperation and sighed heavily.

She was really going to get it later. The next time they had the chance, he would tease her till she could only beg and begged for him to take her. The mere thought of her pleading, naked form was already rousing him for good.

He shook his head fiercely, as if it could throw off the wild fantasies which were running wild in his head and stood up, straightening himself before he was sure that he was ready for the crowd below.

Revenge will always be sweet.

* * *

Fenrir sped through the desert-like Midgar wasteland, leaving trails of dancing dust behind its rear.

Her blond rider heaved a sigh for the umpteenth time of that day and let his shoulder slumped forward, just for a little though.

He had never really liked long distance deliveries. It never failed to make him feel tired and insecure, make his muscle tensed up with adrenaline which wasn't really there, and reduced the time which he could spend in his oh-so-comfortable and soft bed with his undeniably sexy barmaid.

This was already the third day since he had last met with Tifa and the kids, and took off to mideel. The doctor, who had found and taken care of him when he was washed away in the Lifestream, needed an herb from the Chocobo farm and so the ex-Soldier wannabe couldn't do anything but accept his old life savior's request.

It wasn't that he hated to travel alone with Fenrir. In fact, he liked to enjoy the strong, refreshing wind which hit his face as his self modified bike accelerated, and it always gave him the ability to think about everything, slowly and clearly. But too long of it had proved to be too much, even for his enhanced body, physically and mentally.

A sudden prick on his side snapped him out of his reverie, and brought Fenrir's loud rumbling back to his ears. Cloud turned his head down to look through his darkened goggles.

Two black, dart like arrows were pointing out of his right side, and the burning sensation which was starting to spread was something a bit hard to miss. The blond released his jet black bike's steer after making sure that it was on automatic mode and yanked the small shots out of his flesh.

The small projectiles were carelessly dropped to the moving ground and Fenrir's sides dispersed into slots which were each holding a unique sword. He groaned as his muscles contracted with every move that he made. Some of the blades were placed in the holster at his back while some were reconstructed and held firmly in his hands.

Who the hell had shot him, and why? His thought ran as adrenaline started to flow through his veins, rendering his senses and quickening his moves. The blond turned his head around, searching for any moving target which could be the expert sniper. Hitting him twice when he was at that speed, without letting his presence known…the guy who had shot him with god-knows-what must be a professional.

By now, the all too familiar burning sensation which had settled on his side was gone; in fact, he couldn't feel his right hip at all. And that was enough to prove his suspicion.

The small arrows must be smeared with some kind of sedatives. Cloud squinted and searched harder for his invisible assailant. His body was starting to feel heavy and he knew that he could drop anytime. But dying without giving a hard time to his attacker was certainly not an option for him.

He had to go to a crowded place, but Edge, the nearest inhabited place, was still miles away from his current location.

Speaking of his current location, it seems like lady luck never seems to be with him on this damned desert. His first best friend died here in order to protect him. He first met Kadaj and his gang who approached him with their rowdy entrance, attacking him with friendly shadow creepers on the way here. And now another attack on him was happening again.

Cloud firmly held his incomplete fusion sword in one hand while he accelerated his bike. If he couldn't reach Edge, then he should call them here. He fished his PHS out of the pouch behind his back and flipped it open with one swift flick of his finger. But before he could press the communication device to his ears after calling his first speed dial, a big wall of ice came out of nowhere and blocked his way.

The blond immediately rotated his hips as an order for Fenrir to follow and the black bike fell on its side, skidding to a halt right in front of the towering cold wall which contrasted with its surrounding's atmosphere, while her sedated rider was thrown and tumbled a few meters away.

Cloud groaned weakly as he gripped the hilt of his sword and tried to lift his own weight up to no avail. His eyes were dropping fast and his body was already feeling twice its usual weight. He fell face first as the drug used on him was starting to nullify his receptors.

"_Cloud? Is that you?" _ Tifa's voice snapped him out of his respiration attempt as he concentrated to calm his erratic breathing.

The ex-soldier wannabe lifted his head up and slowly stretched his hand out, trying to reach for his PHS which was just two meter away from him.

"_Cloud? Cloud? What's wrong?" _The barmaid kept calling his name as if it would wake her boyfriend from whatever was causing his silence, concern evident in each tone she used to call his name.

"Ti-" He breathed out but was immediately cut out as his face was forced to kiss the ground, by a hard surface applying force to the back of his head.

Everything went black at that point and the last thing that he heard was Tifa's sweet voice which was stopped by a sickening crunch of his phone under his attacker's boots.


	8. mishaps

_A/N: Woot! Longest chapter that I've ever made! Here's the next chapter for you guys and I have some bad news._

_This story will be on hiatus while I rewrite 'Love and Sin'. Its summer holidays, so I should be able to work it in a month…or two…let's just see later LOL_

_Don't forget to review if you want me to write faster, it really helps! _

* * *

Reno strolled down the stairs and found that the crowded living room was occupied by lesser people than it was four hours ago.

Elena and Tseng were seriously nodding and listening to Sei's mom, who was talking while petting the infant on her lap, probably about pregnancies what-to-do and not-to-dos, while Seira listened behind her mother with a wide grin plastered on her face.

The Turk didn't spot the other men in the living room and turned around as he heard their voices behind him. They were huddling at the kitchen's stool located beyond the hallway beside the stairs.

Rude, Kyle and Recca stood idly while they exchanged words, the odd Turk opening his mouth on certain occasions only.

The redhead curiously walked towards the suspicious group and immediately turned around as he heard a glimpse of their current subject, Weapon and explosives.

Rude, the only one who was facing him gave Reno a quick glance before throwing another one word comment at the group's current topic and ignored his partner. Reno sighed and strolled away, he was in no mood to discuss about anything serious. He just wanted to crack a joke and laugh, forget about everything which was going to happen tomorrow and if he could, tease his lover, who was now smiling at him.

He stood beside Seira who was leaning against the back of the three seated couch, listening to her mom who seems to be telling her own experience of her pregnancies period.

"The first will always be the hardest. It was plain hectic when I first knew about my first pregnancy." The eldest woman reminisced with a smile on her face as she continued.

The brunette seemed to be more attentive and leaned closer as she knew that the next topic would be about her early days.

"It was rather fast after our marriage, morning sickness is a problem for us wives while our mood swings would be a problem for our husbands. One thing I suggest best is not to fight her when this happens, just listen and things would be solved easier." The raven haired mother advised the young couples, while Reno Jr. reached out and tugged at his sister's long golden brown locks which had came to his reach.

"And that's all I could say. Actually, everything differs according to the person itself. I rarely experienced any morning sickness with Seira but she caused more mood swings than Reno, and Reno caused more morning sickness but less mood swings. So, just relax and one more thing, don't forget to exercise daily and move, but don't work or think too much either. Stress is one of the worst problems for pregnant women."

"Okay then, I think it's time for us to go." Tseng announced after one final nod and mentally made sure that he had noted everything which he had just learned, in his head.

"Kyle, Recca, shouldn't we go too?" Reina called out, and the three men came out of their previous spot and leisurely walked to the living room.

"We can leave anytime, we're all set." Her husband replied and ruffled his son's raven mane as he approached.

"Now?" The brunette straightened herself and blinked a few times in surprise. "Wait, I'll pack my bag first." Sei jumped her way upstairs and couldn't help the bubbly feeling that was building up inside of her. She knew that she shouldn't be this happy given the current situation and the real objective to travel to the other side of Gaia, but she just couldn't help getting excited over the trip.

* * *

The hapzardously packed blue duffel bag was hauled up to her shoulder, while the previously discarded jacket was once again wrapped on her lean body.

She looked at the mirror in her bathroom and took a glance at herself. Hell, awful was an understatement of her current state. There was a black ring under both of her swollen eyes and her lips were dry and cracked all over. Sei gingerly rubbed the puffy, dark skin under her jade orbs with her index finger and gave her lips a lick before walking out of the boyish room.

After fixing her appearance not to look too gleeful, she walked down the stairs and calmly met her whole family.

Her mother was carrying her infant brother in her arms while her father carried a duffel bag in each hand and one baby bag slung on his shoulder.

"Want me to help? Transporting four people-" She offered to Recca who looked distress, with his own baggage behind the others.

"Absolutely, no. how many times should I tell you that this magic is still too dangerous for you." The raven haired man refused faster than she was able to reason why she had offered the preposition in the first place.

"Fine, I was only being kind to reduce your weight. You're the only one who'll feel tired as hell once we reach home." His niece spat and turned her head around childishly, coming to face the Turks who were standing across them.

A smile immediately crept to her face and she waved a good bye to the group as something yanked her hair back. A yelp involuntarily escaped her lips and she was ready to glare at whoever it was when she turned around and saw a little amount of her curly hair in her brother's small fist.

Sei sighed in exasperation and pried the small fingers from the delicate strands of her locks. "Since when have you become so fond of my hair, little mister?" She playfully flicked his small forehead before offering her pinky finger, knowing that he would keep pulling at her hair till he found something else to grab onto.

"Here, take these." A low voice rumbled, in front of her and quickly gained her attention at its owner.

"What's this for, Rude?" She turned around to face her lover's partner and eyed four candy bar modeled phones which were sprawled in his hand.

"A new Shinra phone, it can be used between our dimension." The silent Turks' voice had always managed to easily get her attention. It was deep and rough but somehow still gentle to the extent that it could calm her thoughts.

"Thanks." She pocketed the platinum communication device as the others behind her did the same thing and voiced out their different acknowledgement.

The brunette looked up as she felt an invisible force surround her, one hand still bound by the infant behind her.

Rude who had stepped aside, revealed Reno who was blankly staring at her face with his usual laid back posture on; Hands in his pocket and back slightly hunched.

Their goodbyes had always been as simple as this. No kisses or even hugs before they part and in less than an hour after their separation, both of them would regret and curl on their beds, trying to recollect the warmth of each other on their own skins.

It wasn't that they weren't sad to part away from each other. In fact, they didn't like the idea so much that they lost their mood to get lovey-dovey and just try to shrug their feelings off.

A flash of white light blinded her vision for a while before she blinked a few times and realized the lack of pressure on her pinky finger. "What the…hell?" She narrowed her eyes dangerously and waved a hand in front of her face to discern the white smokes which had obstructed her view and clean air to breathe.

_This never happened before._ She wondered in confusion._ Did Recca did something wrong?_

A sight of the gang of Turks in front of her startled her, but before she could react more than a small opening of her mouth, the phone that the bald Turk had given her blared loudly from her pocket.

What was this? Some sick kind of technical problem happening only at her?

Sei cursed loudly as she fished her brand new phone out of her pocket and silenced it with a forceful jab of her thumb on the green receive button. "Hello?" She spat with annoyance evident in her voice.

"_Where are you?"_ The other end asked calmly, trying to ignore the girl's obvious pissed off state.

"Surprisingly, I'm still here, dad." She said with more venom dripping from her voice as she walked to the group who was still standing in confusion across the room.

"_Recca is in no condition to go back there, can you stay in your friend's house again?"_ The brunette was now silenced down by her father's unusual calm demeanor. Shouldn't he be more worried or something?

"O…kay…" She answered uncertainly and waited for another instruction from her usually demanding father.

"Don't forget to lock the door, don't stay alone and we'll meet you as soon as Recca gains his strength back."

"Yes, dad." The brunette stayed silent as she didn't dare to speak more or even end the awkward conversation.

A small grunt from the other side and the annoying beeping on the communication device which was pressed against her ears, announced the end of the awkward silence. She slipped the phone back in her pocket and placed a hand on Reno's arm."Can someone explain what had just happened?"

* * *

Sei threw herself on the couch as soon as she reached Reno's apartment, the redhead following suit after locking the front door.

The fatigue had crept up to her again and it was starting to annoy her to no end. What was wrong with her body, was her gastritis acting up again? She certainly hadn't eaten properly for the past few days, but she had had a fair amount of rest to not let her stamina drop.

"You okay, babe?" Reno asked as he sensed her sudden restless state and the hard frown which was rather hard to miss on her forehead.

"Nothing, just a little headache." She brought a hand and massaged her forehead, trying to relax the tensed muscles and the hammering sensation against her skull.

"Want me to order some food?" The redhead pulled his lover to his lap and rested his head on her shoulder.

"No, I'll cook something." As much as the idea of cooking was just too tiring at the moment, she still had no choice than to do it. If her stomach was really starting to bitch, junk food would certainly not help.

"Then you would better take a bath first." He gave her cheek a peck before carrying her up in his arm and sat her on his bed.

"Thanks." Came her only response when he came back with her duffel hanging on his shoulder.

"I haven't eaten anything that you made since what, two years?" Seira rolled her eyes at her lover's exaggeration skills and sighed. "Enjoy yourself, you look dead tired." He gave a lingering kiss on her lips and reluctantly released his grip on her waist. "Or I can help, if you want?"

The brunette took her bag from his shoulder and stated right before she close the door behind her. "No, thanks."

She grabbed an oversize T-shirt and her pj's bottom from the blue bag and placed it on top of the dry sink, before unzipping her jacket and letting it fall to the ground with a loud clank.

She cringed at the unexpected noise and immediately picked up the garment with her hands.

The green sphere that she had produced from the garment's pocket softly glowed. How many times had she forgotten about this mysterious materia? She dropped the ball into the piles of clothes in her bag and began to peal each layer of her other garments.

Sei turned the bathtub's faucet and enjoyed the flowing water's sound before moving to the glass covered shower cubicle beside it.

The scalding heat from the water beat down against her head and bare back, soothing her tensed muscles and pounding headache which were slowly but surely getting on her nerves. She sighed and stayed still for a while, before taking the shampoo from the small counter right beside the shower and quickly rinsed her hair with it.

As soon as she was sure that there weren't any soap left on her hair, she wrung her golden brown curly locks and timidly tip toed out of the steam fogged cubicle, making sure to let minimum amount of water from her body to drip on the floor.

The lukewarm, clean water in the tub drowned her naked form. The brunette leant her head back and stared at the white ceiling as she recalled everything which had happened after her father's sudden odd disposition.

"_No one's answering the phone." Tseng flipped his phone shut and slipped it back into his black blazer's inner pocket._

"_Tifa's not in the bar? Shouldn't she be opening today?" Sei inquired as she wondered where the barmaid could've gone. According to the others, it had been a hard trial even for them, to make her take a day off for the surprise party last night. She wonder what reasons would be able to make her close the bar for two days straight._

"_Maybe Cloud told her to stop working for a while before their wedding. It wouldn't be good if the bride looks tired during the ceremony, right." Reno butted in and explained lazily._

"_Hmm, I don't think I'm staying there then." _

"_Then it's all set, you're coming with me." The redhead draped his arm around the brunette's shoulder with a wide grin plastered on his face._

"_And let my father kill you tomorrow?" The brunette asked, rhetorically._

"_He obviously told you not to stay alone and didn't mention anything about staying with me." He grabbed her bag from her shoulder and strolled towards the main door with his usual swagger. _

_She sighed and let her shoulder slumped in defeat before reluctantly following her stubborn lover. "I'll turn a blind eye at whatever happens tomorrow."_

"_Reno." His boss' voice stopped him dead in his tracks, a few feet ahead from the others._

"_What?" The redhead looked pass his shoulder and responded with his usual drawl._

"_The mission will be commenced at whatever state you come tomorrow morning, sharp." The Wutainese walked pass his second in command and walked out of the door, followed by his other subordinate._

"_Yeah, yeah, whatever." _

Seira rose from her sitting position and immediately shivered as air passed through her wet, naked form. This thinking session wasn't helping anything, not her headache and definitely not producing any answers.

She snatched her towel from the open duffel bag on the floor and quickly dried her body.

Whatever comes tomorrow comes tomorrow. But right now, she had a hungry, demanding redhead to feed.

* * *

The brunette had sighed for the umpteenth time that night. She stared at the pot above the stove as she sat on a chair beside the mahogany dining table.

"Need any help?"

She literally jumped at the sudden voice behind her and whipped her head around, too fast that her neck snapped and a yelp couldn't help but escape from her lips.

"Slow down, girl. What's wrong with you?" Reno walked to his kitchen, fresh from the shower, with his usual home attire; almost the same as his Turks uniform, minus the blazer.

Sei rubbed the sore spot on her neck before she stood upright and walked towards the stove. "Nothing, I was just day dreaming. Can you take out the plates?"

"Sure, babe, you don't look so good." Reno eyed her while he took two plates from the cabinet just beside the stove.

And as if on call, her stomach clenched uncomfortably and a wave of nausea hit her as soon as the strong smell of curry, from the pot which she had just opened, washed over her. She groaned in annoyance and covered her mouth with a hand while the other closed the source of her sickness.

"You okay?" The redhead placed the plates he was holding on the counter before placing a hand on his pale lover's shoulder.

The brunette clamped her other hand on her mouth as she felt another wave of nausea and tried her best to hold back the urge of emptying the content of her empty stomach."Re, you can eat first." She managed to whisper before running to the bathroom.

The sight of a toilet bowl had never been this beautiful in her life. Seira fell on her knees and immediately emptied what little was left in her stomach. She ignored the hand which was pulling her hair back and panted heavily as she stared daggers at the puddle of undigested food that she had just produced.

A cold and smooth surface was pressed against her cheek and the obviously sick teen slowly turned her head to face the clear liquid in a glass. "Here, drink this." The man, who was previously standing behind her, kneeled beside her and offered the glass of water.

"Thanks" She muttered and took the glass with her trembling hand.

Gastritis is certainly what was messing up with her now. This sucks, she would have to tell her father to bring her medicine tomorrow and rest all day, she noted, dully. Right when something important was going on. True that part of it was her fault for ignoring her meals for the past few days, but why couldn't it choose another day? Not now, when she has an important mission to run, which required her to fly across the continent.

"You really okay?" The redhead asked again, concern evident in his voice.

"Yeah, it's only my gastritis acting up. A days rest and proper food would be enough." She gargle the water in her bile flavored mouth and threw it out to the toilet, before downing the whole content of the glass.

Reno stood up and dusted invisible dirt from his pants before helping the brunette up and flushed the whole mess in the toilet. "You better eat and go to bed, then." He handed her a towel before guiding her back to the dining table.

The brunette wiped her mouth with the towel and sat tiredly on the chair in front of the mahogany table. She couldn't care less to smile or convince the certainly worried Turk that she was okay. All she wanted to do now was sleep, but she knew that if she didn't fill her stomach, tomorrow would be hell worse than now.

The plate of curry was placed below her face by her lover, and she had to inhale slowly to make sure that the smell wouldn't make her sick again. "Thanks" Was all she was able to say to the Turk sitting in front of her before she began to fill her stomach.

Dinner went on in silence, Seira who was too tired and in no mood to talk and Reno who was (for once) trying to give peace to the obvious sick girl sitting in front of him didn't bother to utter a word.

"I'm done, I'll be heading to bed first" Seira said before standing up and picking up her unfinished meal.

"You done? That's not even half you've touched. " The redhead pointed at her plate and added."Let me finish it for you, need any medicines?"

"Eat more and I'll throw up again, I'll call Recca to bring my medicine tomorrow." She handed her plate and walked out of the dining area, the sound of a door opening and closing followed soon after.

Reno continued to eat with his occupied mind. His mission tomorrow would most probably consist of disguising himself as a Turk on vacation and recon the area around the target's house. But what was Tseng planning for Sei and her family to do, infiltrate the area? In no way was he going to let that happen, he was sure that the only weapon she had ever held was a kitchen knife and what if they were caught and mission failed? If they were lucky, there would be no casualties but there enemy was someone who worked for Shinra before. And nothing means good with the corporation's past.

Tseng was certainly a capable leader, even until now. Precautious and prioritizes his subordinates safety before anything else. But when he got into a mission, he would make sure that all resources were used to its maximum capacity. What if, he went too far this time and couldn't retract the dangers which he had put the brunette and her family in? What if, he fails for the first time after all the clean success mission records that he had maintained?

The redhead growled and ruffled his hair, with both of his hands, in frustration. This was one of the things that he was afraid would happen if he got too attached to someone, and being the second in command of the Turks didn't help but made everything worst.

But everything just seemed so worth it when they were together. The stubborn, moody girl who suddenly came to his life made him live a different path which he had never even dared to hope for. A life where he could live his life for someone else except himself, a real home where he could find comfort when his job had jumbled up his feelings and his Turks friend wasn't an option for placation.

Reno stood up with the remnants of his meals, to be exact- two empty plates in his hand and walked to the kitchen. He dumped the plates in the sink and indulged in a can of beer, before strolling back to his room.

It wasn't that his colleagues wouldn't be worried if something bad happened to him, Rude will certainly rescue him whatever the risk was, Elena would no doubt cry for him, and Tseng…let's not discuss that in detail, but he would certainly give him a nice long lecture about being reckless etcetera, etcetera and finally, a pat on his back.

The Turk's office had been a home for him since he joined the force years ago, a place to come back after each mission that he and his partner was ordered to do, easy or hard, moral or immoral. Even after meteor destroyed Shinra headquarters and their office, the place where the Turks gathered, had always became a home for him. But deep down he had always unconsciously yearned for someone special, and a Turk was always recommended not to have one.

Some Turks learned it the hard way though, Rude for example, was betrayed by the girl she liked, who turned out to be an AVALANCHE spy. Chelsea was her name, if he remembered properly. And they parted not in their best terms, the girl who had certainly grew a feeling for his bald partner just left without letting him say goodbye. They knew that it was for both of their own goods, they were from two opposing sides after all, but Rude still didn't take it well.

The door creaked lightly as he pushed it open. And there lay the brunette who was sleeping on her usual right side of the bed.

Sei lay on her left side, A blanket covered her shoulder and beyond but left her pale, white neck exposed.

How he wished he could kiss, lick and nibble at the sensitive skin, which was taunting and teasing him to come closer. But his professional Turk side was functioning properly tonight. He must be prepared for tomorrow's mission, even though it would just be recon on the nearby area. And Sei wasn't at her best condition to suit him too.

The redhead silently closed the door behind him and slipped into the covers. Slipped a hand into his lover's oversized T-shirt and caressed her belly.

The brunette stirred and placed a hand on top of his invading hand. "Don't stop, your hand is really warm." She stifled a yawn and said, sleepily.

"If you mean to say that I'm hot, I've known that since I learned how to stare at myself in a mirror." He chuckled and continued stroking her abdomen as she pressed her back against his chest, snuggling to his welcoming warmth.

"You leaving early tomorrow?"

"Yeah, don't wanna hear Tseng's rambling early in the morning."

Seira hugged his arm and closed her eyes, waiting for her sleep induced brain to take over when the comforting silence was suddenly snapped with a single statement by the dilemma-filled Turk.

"You'll go no matter what I say, huh." The air was suddenly tensed as his hushed voice jolted her brain awake.

She turned around and uneasily bit her lower lip as she stared at her lover's azure orbs. It held pain…his usual pained expression which she had never liked to see in his eyes. "Re… I thought we were done with this topic?" She stated rather than asked.

The minute she saw those eyes, she had regretted turning around to meet his gaze. All she wanted to do now was either turn away and end the conversation or hug him and reassure him that everything was going to be alright, anything which would avoid her from those pair of orbs. And knowing that she was the cause of those emotions on him…nothing was helping at all.

Despite the urge to just stare at the cupboard behind him or the ceiling above them, she stared right at his eyes and cupped his cheeks with both of her hands. "Everything is gonna be fine, Re. Think positive." The brunette smiled and kissed the corner of his lips. "C'mon, let's sleep. You need to rise and shine early tomorrow or Tseng's lecture would certainly fill your day."Sei entwined their hands and closed her eyes as she waited for slumber to catch up.

A hand pushed her forehead against his well toned chest and she snuggled closer to his body, seeking for the comforting warmth.

And not more than a minute or two, her mind had flown to her heavenly dreamlands.

Unaware of what all was waiting for her in the near future.


	9. Unwell Preparations

Okay...I know I haven't finished Love and Sin's reconstruction but it took a lil bit more time than what I first expected so I decided to update this as a celebration of me completing my exams!

Enjoy! Read and review!

* * *

And there her bold expression was. Staring at his pathetic, dilemma induced face and trying to help him get over his agitation.

He loved this side of her which was always able to calm his dawdling thoughts, which consists of the what-ifs worst case scenario on upcoming important events.

Reno had never shown this side of him to anyone else except her and Rude, his easily anxious state despite the casual, laidback persona that he often give people around him the impression of. And the amount of thinking that he _actually_ did when he's nervous.

The brunette stared right through his eyes and cupped his cheeks with both of her hands. "Everything is gonna be fine, Re. Think positive." She smiled and kissed the corner of his lips. "C'mon, let's sleep. You need to rise and shine early tomorrow or Tseng's lecture would certainly fill your day."

Her hands got a hold of his bigger ones as she closed her eyes.

Her every touch and every kiss felt so sweet against his cold skin, soothing and melting away all his uneasiness and worries. The redhead couldn't help himself of being overprotective on her. This was…his first serious relationship that he had had in years, after all. If he had one in the past, he couldn't really remember.

Reno brought his hand on the back of her head and pulled her lean form closer, keeping their intertwined hands together in between them and tucked her head under his chin.

The fact that he was so deep in love with her was killing his insides slowly. All the chances of someone hurting her for being a Turks' girlfriend wasn't an unusual thought in his head and he still couldn't imagine what would become of him if the worst was to happen.

How he hoped time could stay like this forever, just the two of them alone.

Everything seemed so damn easy when they were together...dare he say, he felt invincible when she was with him.

* * *

The redhead jerked awake as he felt something brushed his hands and the loud bang of a nearby door forced to its frame.

The room was dark, save for some shade of moonlight filtered from his curtained window. Reno stayed still as his trained senses scanned the room.

A groan snapped the Turks out of his alert trance. Finally realizing that a certain figure had disappeared from his side, he made his way to the source of the noise stealthily and turned the lights of his dark bathroom on.

The dim lights flickered on, revealing a slim brunette half-sprawled on the floor and his toilet.

"Sei, you okay?" He squatted down to her level and lightly shook her shoulder in concern, immediately stopping when the motionless teen stirred and groaned into the porcelain bowl.

"Oh god, Reno...just leave me here for a while. Sorry for waking you up-" She managed to mumble before her stomach decided to throw out what little was left in it.

The redhead used his hand to pull her golden brown locks back while the other massaged the back of her neck. "Hold your hair. I'll get a glass of water."

"Thanks." Seira managed to reply in between intake of air through her gag flavored mouth.

It was 4 in the morning, she had duly noted amidst the panic when she woke up just to find the world spinning, literally. The sun wasn't even up and she was already sticking her head in a bowl filled with her own partially digested food. What a life she had these days.

"Here, drink this." Reno returned with a glass of clear liquid and squatted down beside her, rubbing her bare arms as if it could sooth all the sickness away.

The brunette rinsed her sour mouth before gulping down the whole content of the glass. "Gods, I hate vertigo."

"Can you stand? You're going to be colder if you stay here."

Seira pushed herself up and didn't protest as Reno swept her up to his arms before gravity could push her wobbling legs back down to the cold floor. All she wanted was just a good night's sleep under the soft and warm covers, when she couldn't even close her eyes without feeling lightheaded. "Someone please, stop spinning my head..."

"Just lie down and concentrate on something, the spinning will eventually stop." The redhead gently placed her on the bed before joining in and pulling the covers over them.

She sighed in contempt as he started to rub her abdomen under her comfy nightshirt and brought his other hand to caress her flushed cheek. "Promise me, you won't do anything stupid that'll danger your life in Wutai." He opened his mouth after letting her enjoy the silence for a while.

His words didn't fully penetrate through her dazed mind for a moment before she took his bigger hands and managed to spread a small smile on her face. "Yes, I promise, Reno. But the same goes to you too. I know you're a Turk and all but you're still human, okay...I don't wanna lost anyone anymore."

"You know I won't leave you. A Reno doesn't die that easily. You better worry about yourself." He flashed his trademark cocky smirk as he tapped his index finger against her forehead and she squealed in protest.

"Ouch! I know I know, Mr. strong almighty. You don't have to hit that hard okay." The brunette pouted and slapped his hand away as her lover chuckled in respond and rubbed the sore spot lovingly.

"I'm sorry, okay. You better sleep if you're already feeling better. It's not even five." Reno yawned in elaboration as he pulled her closer and pressed his lips on her temple.

"Yeah, it isn't as bad as it was, good night, Re." Seira snuggled closer, if possible and wrapped her arms around his upper torso.

"Good night, love."

* * *

Tseng stood beside his work chair, both hands stuffed in his pocket and eyes deeply rooted at the thick manila folder on top of his desk as Elena wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, almost catching him in surprise. "Is everything alright?" He never knew when her sweet voice had started to fill his eardrums so pleasantly like good music that he enjoyed after a long day of work.

"What do you think of those two?" The sudden question caught the female Turk off guard and she couldn't help but ask in confirmation.

"Who?"

"Reno and Seira." He added before sitting and pulling the blonde down to his lap.

"What's wrong with them? They fit perfectly in my description of a perfect couple." She snuggled closer as the raven haired man rested his hands on top of her round stomach.

"Tseng...is that a problem for you?" She inquired again upon receiving no reply from the man deep in his thoughts.

"Do you think it is? A Turk can never stop being one. All the responsibility and sins that we bear will follow us six feet under."

Elena cringed at her stoic lover's somber tone as she turned around to face him, ignoring the fact that she was straddling his thighs. True that she was also a Turk who carried the heavy burden of the organization despite Shinra's remuneration not long after her admission to the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department. But Tseng, Reno and Rude had been there since the company's shadiest era and being a leader and Second-in-command wasn't making things any better.

"Have you seen the changes in Reno after they met?" The blonde asked and smiled knowingly before moving her hand to caress her lover's hard face.

"He has been doing his job properly, to avoid over time and meet Seira, I guess." Tseng frowned in confusion as the female Turk shook her head.

"No, it's not just that. Can't you hear the way he talks now?" The corner of her lips quirked further up at the usually intellectual man's puzzled face. " I mean, yeah, he still uses the same slang and accent when he speaks. But somehow it's more... gentle now...I don't really know how to explain this, Reno's voice used to have this sarcastic tone as if he was mocking his own life and now it's just gone. I even caught him smiling when Sei wasn't looking recently. Like a real smile, Tseng!"

He couldn't help but smile at her excitement and pulled her close for an embrace. "Do you think they're going to be alright...?"

Elena sighed in exasperation as she hugged him back and rested her cheek against his chest. "Honestly...I don't know Tseng. But I think whatever Reno feels right now will be worth it, for what's in store."

"Yes, Let's just hope nothing happens." The raven haired man sighed as his hands caressed his wife's blond hair.

Let's just hope...his gut feeling was wrong this time.

* * *

The alarms blared to life as its digital, green, bold letters read 07:00.

Reno tore a hand away from the brunette to slap the offending instrument off, landing a few hit against the cold surface of his nightstand before finding its target with a satisfying click and silence which prevailed at last.

The redhead nestled back to his lover's still sleeping form. Damn, that girl was the real heavy sleeper, not even moving an inch after all the ruckus that he'd made.

He lay on his sides for another minute and not wanting to risk waking up his sick lover, silently moved out of the bed once his mind was clear from any traces of sleep.

It was not more than five minutes later, when he was dully brushing his teeth and staring at his own reflection through the wide mirror in his spacious bathroom that someone barged in and immediately bent down to the toilet.

"Shei?" He raised an eyebrow at the gagging woman, approaching her with mouth full of white detergent and a tooth brush still hanging limply from his lips.

"I'm okay, better than last night at least." She stood straight and waved her hand in dismissal at the obviously worried redhead. Seira asked with her sleep induced voice."I'm going to make something before my empty stomach decides to throw itself out. What do you want?"

Reno watched incredulously at the dazed brunette. "Anything you're making is fine." And she walked away without another word, swaying dangerously from left to right as her brain tried to wake her other half which was still asleep.

Seira being up at this time was a miracle itself, let alone awake in an un-pissed mood. That was something new that could not be missed, so he quickly got over his morning routines and ran off to the kitchen.

The brunette was cooking three egg ups and two bacons. A spatula held in one hand while the other was pinching the bridge of her nose.

The redhead savored the view for another moment before the focus of his attention walked to the dining table, two plates in hand. He frowned at the content of his tableware after sitting by the table himself.

"You're just eating that?" His index finger glared indignantly at the lone sunny side up in front of her, while she shrugged and started cutting up the plain fried egg with the cutlery on her hands.

"Better than nothing, right?" Her stomach churned in anticipation of being filled and she cringed when the first bit filled her mouth. It was hard to swallow, hence making her chew longer and almost gagged when she forced it down her throat.

"No chance you're only eating that." He managed to transfer one of the bacons from his plate to her empty one before she could further protest.

"I'm not in the mood to eat much, Reno." The brunette stabbed the piece of meat and almost got rid of it before Reno's own fork stopped her.

"You won't recover if you just sleep and not eat." They struggled with their forks in the air before he pushed further as he felt her grip faltered, while she just frown and pouted as Reno fixed the oily bacon back on her plate.

"Okay, okay. I'll eat half of it." She quickly sliced it into two pieces before moving the bigger one to Reno's plate.

The rest of breakfast went in silence for the next fifteen minutes and Seira sighed in contempt as she finally finished eating and slumped back on her chair.

"See, you finished it." Reno who had cleared up earlier finally spoke up to the woman he had been watching.

"You forced me to." She let out a huff and pouted as the redhead moved to her side and carried her, bridal style.

"What are you doing?" The frown which had somehow grown on her forehead deepened, if possible, finding that she wasn't really in a condition and mood to struggle.

"Taking the princess back to bed. What time are your medicines arriving?" He asked nonchalantly as he strode back to his room.

"I don't know, anytime between eight, or maybe now?" She asked herself back, rather than answered and the door bell rang as if on cue. "You gotta be kidding me, he came this early?"

"The faster you get your treatments the better, right. I'll go get the door." The redhead gently placed her on top of the bed and he was gone before she could protest.

Well, she was in no mood of shouting or doing anything strenuous like getting mad at any one of her families. Besides, there would already be a great deal of commotion if her father had decided to repeat the same mistake and so far she was still enjoying the golden silence.

The door swung open and revealed contrasting raven and redhead in the room while she sat unsurprised and anticipated for another man with similar features as her to enter.

"Here's your medicine, Seira. Your mom told you to see a doctor and I've told Tseng to make an appointment later in Wutai." The raven haired man handed a transparent plastic bag to the seemingly annoyed girl and he couldn't help but ask his curiosity about her sudden change of mood. She seemed alright not more than five seconds ago. "Is anything wrong?"

"Where's dad?" The question was straightforward and simple but had sounded blunt even to Reno himself.

Shit, she's really pissed now. Reno thought as he could tell from her tone but didn't know why she was annoyed out of nowhere.

"He's staying home to pack up-"

The silent girl suddenly shrieked in annoyance, taking both the elder men by surprise as she snatched the plastic from her uncle's hand and stomped out of the room. "What the hell is wrong with that guy? Giving me the silent treatment, huh, now let's just see who can't stand it at the end!" Seira muttered under her breath, loud enough for the other two to listen and shook their heads at the father and daughter's antics.

___The apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all._


	10. Wutai

_A/N: So, I know I'm embarrassing myself with this quick update but I just can't stop feeling guilty cause I haven't updated for ages!_

_And just to let you know, I'm blaming school for this one._

_So enjoy and I dare ask you guys to review...please.

* * *

_

"So...how did you get this sick all of a sudden?" Recca raised an eyebrow as he watched his niece unscrew the small bottle of pills in a not-so-gentle force.

"No clue...err when you think of it, actually, I started feeling sick after Tifa's party." The brunette paused as she dug deep in the past two day's memories. A lot had really happened and it took her awhile to let realization hit her that only two days had passed.

"And nothing out of the ordinary happened there without me, right." The redhead approached the relatives with a knowing smirk, while Seira decided to ignore him and took her medicines in one gulp.

"Oh, yeah, something actually happened!" She exclaimed in surprise herself, immediately wiping her lover's previous smug face.

"What?"

"I got this materia from a kid while I was stuck behind Seventh Heaven. It somehow always slips my mind to give it to you."

"And don't tell me you've been bringing it with you." The raven haired man finally raised his voice and moved from his position, leaning beside the dining table.

"Kind of..."

"Hey, what's this all about. And where did you put the materia, Sei?" Reno watched their exchange for a moment before raising an inquiring eyebrow himself. He wasn't getting where this was going.

"It should still be in my jacket's pocket. Is anything wrong, uncle?" She asked in behalf of the redhead who had hastily retreated to take the mysterious materia.

"No, it's my fault. I should've warned you beforehand. Reno, give me the materia. "

The said man who had just returned immediately tossed the green sphere to the older man and it immediately glowed like a newly lit light bulb as it landed on his open palms.

"Whoa, you can activate it that fast?" The Turk was honestly taken aback by his skills. Their family really never fails to surprise him with each of its member.

"I don't need to activate it, it resonates with my body by itself. Our ability to use spells without equipping any materia is basically because our body acts as one and in exchange of that, our own stamina is drained instead of our MP like how other systems work. This materia contains an M-barrier spell. No wonder you didn't realize that you've been using it for the whole time. " He tossed the materia back to Reno, who was still digesting the information and barely caught the slightly heated ball.

"So, basically, what are you saying is. That I've been constantly using M-barrier without realizing it, because our body can activate materias by itself and that explains my sudden drop of stamina?" The brunette rephrased what she was able to catch as she received an affirmative nod from her uncle. Can her body surprise her anymore than this? With all these powers which keep popping out of nowhere, she was starting to feel like it wasn't her own at all,

"Yo, wait. So what happens if you guys got a hold of any offensive materia?"Reno suddenly chimed in from his too-much-information induced, dumb moments. And he swore that he saw the stuck up man smirked an evil and twisted sort of smile.

"We can boost its initial power and range up to ten times according to our own compatibility with the magic itself. But mind that controlling it will be as much harder too."

"Cool..." The younger man remarked with a following nod.

"What time are you going, Reno?" The sudden question caught him off guard and he quickly took a glance at the clock mounted on the far wall of his living room.

"About now?"

"Guess it's time to leave then." Seira motioned the redhead for a hug as they enveloped themselves in a tight embrace. "Remember what I told you yesterday, okay." She whispered beside his ear and felt him twitched, brightening her smile at his obvious response to her action before reluctantly letting each other go.

"And you should stay out of danger, princess." Reno flashed his trademark smirk as he planted a kiss on her forehead after they almost detached, as if he was desperate to keep her close.

"Bye." And with a last nod, his guests were both gone in a flash.

Reno walked to his living room and dropped down to his couch with a sigh. The Turk buried his face in his open hands as another sharp exhale passed his cold lips.

He left the building in silent determination and one forced declaration etched in his mind.

Everything's gonna be alright...

* * *

If she was told to describe her first impression of Wutai in one word. It would be familiar. The curvaceous eaves, tiled roofs and recognizable kanji characters scattered all over buildings' sign reminded her greatly of her own hometown's history. She could even swear that she spotted a tower's pointed peak-which really reminded her of a Pagoda-beyond the forest behind the village.

Tseng had prepared almost everything for their departure; first class cruise to the western continent, a rented car that had been waiting for them at the entrance of the village, detailed plan of what they were supposed to do and even a weapon of their choice.

Since the brunette had the least experience with any sort of weapon, she had been given a twin, compact semi-automatic handguns which were now secured on both leather holsters on either side of her waist. Her dad had opted for a spear which he had been acquainted since he was young.

Reno and Rude had reached the village a day earlier, whilst Seira and her dad had just arrived this evening after a lengthy trip from Edge to Junon and Junon to Costa Del Sol and finally to Wutai.

Honestly, even though she had recuperated her stamina after a full day's rest under her uncle's watch. Spending half of the day through various kinds of moving vehicles had pretty much removed her mood of doing anything, except rest on her soft mattress again. And the fact that her nauseous hasn't gotten any better wasn't helping at all.

"You shouldn't call him uncle or anything of that sort."

It took a few long moments for the brunette to realize that she wasn't hearing things. She hadn't really heard her own father's voice for almost two days after all.

"So what should I call him?" Seira asked without bothering to look away from the scenery that was passing in a blur. The words sounded a bit too cold even to herself but it wasn't her who started all this in the first place.

The moving car's engine droned the loud silence for a minute before the driving man replied again. "Use his last name, he's a good ten years older than me. But I remember I was only 9 years old and he almost broke my neck when I first met and called him uncle."

"Hmm..." She replied absentmindedly as if her father had just told her his childhood's daily event and continued staring at the dark window, finding interest at the never ending trees which kept passing by.

"_None of you will have any special ties with the Turks once you've stepped out of Edge." Tseng announced to the father and daughter who was sitting attentively in front of him and took a glimpse at the brunette. Well, she looked as indifferent as usual...not like he was expecting much. _

_He didn't really have the time and power to take a good look at her when they had first met. But after really watching her for the past two months of their sudden appearance, he had taken fascination at how her emotion tends to be much more vulnerable when Reno was around. "Both of you were acquainted with the Turks through doctor Rayne's murder case and it would be best if you could act as if you never knew us since the last two months you came back and were against Sir Fujitsu Kino's previous interrogation."_

Right, two months had really passed since she met Reno again...but this week felt way longer than the total time that she had spent here.

Everything just kept going downhill since Doctor Rayne passed away. Well, it wasn't that her father's reaction to her new relationship with Reno wasn't bad enough, but they had always managed to sneak out and meet in secrecy for the last two months and everything...still seemed bearable.

"We're here." The short statement snapped her out of her never ending thoughts and it felt like the first time she was glad to hear his voice since the last two days, just because she was almost bored to death.

Seira watched in awe as her dad pulled over in front of a large, black gate and hastily walked out to an intercom located right beside the metal bars.

Watching from her father's frantic movements and glistening forehead, it didn't look like she was the only one who was nervous about this whole ordeal...he was his dad after all. If there was someone who would be hurt most, it would be him.

It took not more than a minute for Kyle to return and drove in as the gate automatically opened with a loud metallic groan. They passed through a short path of dusty road surrounded by column of trees before stopping in front of a huge ass house that she was sure would be more appropriately called a mansion.

"C'mon, what are you staring for?" Kyle once again snapped the brunette out of her trance as he turned the car's ignition off and jumped out of his seat, relieving his tensed bottom from the leather surface.

The teen sighed in exasperation as she stepped out of the sleek, black sedan and stopped her father with a hand on his shoulder. "You're sweating a lot, better fix yourself before going in." She handed him a pack of pocket tissue that her mother had manage to slip in her bag before walking and stared at the European styled mansion's entrance.

She had heard of all Shinra's infamous works which had been a world leading company at past times and their not-so-confidential (since Yuffie knows) ties with their suspect here. But she never expected him to be this rich and able to maintain a mansion this big after all this time.

"Okay...this is big." Seira muttered before calling to her dad, who was still busy fixing his neatly, combed back hair. "So, what's his job? A house this big isn't that easy to keep."

Kyle gave a final tug on his black, tucked in polo shirt but before he could answer, the big mahogany double door was pulled open to reveal a young man.

"Good evening, Mr. Kyle and Ms. Seira Howard, my name is Ren, the butler of this house. We are greatly graced by your visit." The well built man bowed deeply before continuing. "Both of you must be weary after the long voyage. But Master Kino has been eagerly waiting for your arrival. Please follow me." He directed them deeper through the building and Seira couldn't help but ogle his his wide back which was facing them.

The butler was quite young, he could be the same age or younger than Reno yet the air around him was much more different than her boyfriend. Maybe it was because of his formal and neat attire. Consisting of a crisp, black vest, white tucked in dress shirt and dark blue tie, while the redhead often (more like always) dressed like a kid. His dirty blond locks were neatly cropped to a length where it could stay out of his face in a non-geeky fashion.

She just couldn't take her eyes from him, it felt like she had seen him somewhere...or maybe she (her hormones) was just missing a certain humorous Turk.

Three sharp knocks against wood resonated through the long hallway that she had walked through. The brunette tore her gaze from the attractive male and shifted her line of sight to a big mahogany double door which looked like a mini version of the house' entrance right in front of him.

The door glided smoothly over the plush, red carpet laid out throughout the large room and she wasn't given the time to enjoy the view as a scrawny looking man ran up to them and practically glomped her father. Yes, glomp as in anime characters that she used to watch like to do.

"Kyle!" Seira watched the middle aged man who was dressed in a pair of black trousers and white dress shirt, the cuff of his sleeves dangling wide open to reveal a fair amount of pale skin.

"Hey, Kino, did you become stronger or am I just out of practice?" The said man squeaked in response and petted the other man's shoulder awkwardly while he found himself squeezed by the man half of his size.

"No, you're just fatter."

"Oh yeah, and you're just..." The younger male challenged before playfully shoving the smaller man an arm length from him. "Honestly, I don't even remember you anymore. How long has it been? Twenty years?" He feigned excitement and petted his friend's (that he barely remembered) shoulder to emphasize his point. "Oh, yeah, and this here is my daughter, Seira."

"Yes, almost twenty years I guess, anyways it doesn't matter now that you're back. And ah, what a fine daughter you have here." Seira shuddered as she felt his eyes watching her but still offered her hand nevertheless.

"Seira Howard, nice to meet you." She dreaded the moment that she felt the other cold and slightly sweaty hand, and tried to keep contact as low as possible. But the older man thought different as he held her slender set of digits and brought it to his lips.

"My pleasure, Seira. I've heard from your father that the main reason of your arrival is because of your unfortunate health. I can arrange my private doctor to come tomorrow." The said girl mentally slapped herself to focus on her answer and not the urge to disinfect her hand which was still being held.

"Oh, but we've booked a meeting in the village's hospital tomorrow, Fujitsu...sir?"

"You can just call me Uncle Kino, I never thought that your father would still be a big fan of exaggeration up to this age." A smirk graced his lips as he heard the bigger man behind him muttered in the lines between headlock and a bruise which lasted for a whole week. "Anyways, both of you must be tired. There's still some time until dinner. Ren will show you the way to your chambers."

* * *

Stepping into the living room which separated their rooms, Seira immediately felt as if she was in a five star hotel. The wide windows had a nice view of the garden on the inner side of the mansion, a lounge area complete with a huge TV set and a mini bar on the far corner of the room.

The connecting rooms which were prepared for them were a little more than breath taking. It was spacious, modern yet elegant and anything that a guest would want to be comfortable in another's house.

Their temporary private quarters look twice the size of their own rooms back at home and Seira was sure that it was just because of the excessive furniture covering another quarter of the room. She wasn't even near the_ poor_ class in Japan, but looking at all this was making it hard to believe herself.

"Dinner will be ready in another two hours. Please enjoy your stay." The young butler smiled brightly and retreated from his brief touring of the rooms, leaving a dazzled father and daughter.

"I'll be sleeping then. Good night, dad." And without another word she slammed the door a little bit harder than her first intention had been.

She wasn't surprised to find her duffel bag already placed on top of the backless couch, attached to the king sized bed's front and immediately pulled out a few loose clothes before shedding her off-shoulder top and dark skinny jeans. A quick hot shower and nap was really what her stiff body needed, or she was sure that her condition would drop again.

Meanwhile, the forgotten figure on the other side of the room had immediately slumped down on the pulpous, black leather couch and sighed in exasperation.

What the hell had he done again to make his daughter angry this time? He had tried his best to ignore her relationship with that redheaded brat and what else was she expecting now?

Kyle had never remembered being this complicated when he was 20, that too in a dysfunctional family.

If only Reina had came with them, she would be cuddling and providing him with answers which he could never think of.

Another sigh passed through his lips and he was regretting his wife's choice of name for his son.


	11. Haywire

_A/N: And here's the next chapter, at last! _

_Read and review, please. It helps me update faster with all the happiness and guilt I get with it..._

* * *

"So, what did I miss all these years?" Kyle immediately inquired at the older man as they were directed to the long dining table in the middle of a big room.

"Nothing really."

Seira listened at the older males chit-chatting with less interest as she took bit by bits of her luxurious dinner and thanked the gods for her calm stomach tonight.

The brunette's father had been assigned to collect as much personal information on the suspected man in front of him as he could, while her own job was to make a distraction to cover the Turks' infiltration in the next 48 hours to come.

An outrageous job to be given to the likes of her, especially at her weakened state-even though she was equipped with almost a dozen of mini bombs(that Rude and Reno had made sure would serve as a real distraction)- but she couldn't imagine herself socializing with the creepy man her father was talking with either.

Yes, he's creepy, it wasn't that she felt intimidated with the older male or anything, but she just felt...uncomfortable around him.

Fujitsu Kino was a scrawny looking 50 years old man, said to have had heart problems since he was born and formed an allegiance with his hometown's arch enemy at his mid 30s. The visible veins under his pale skin looked too artificial to be true and all his pigments, gray hairs included, screamed of anything but healthy.

Her mission was proven to be less complicated than she first thought as the duo was given a complete tour of the humongous mansion after the lengthy dinner. She managed to plant three of the thin, rectangular, pass photo sized mini bombs in the house's pantry, emergency staircase and some sort of electricity panel. Basically everywhere which doesn't really need daily care and will be less likely to be found.

Everything just seemed too easy right now. And she wasn't complaining, but there was just this uneasiness inside her which was preventing her from relaxing. Even when the mood had risen and everyone was deep in their dreamlands, or so she thought.

A strong knock startled the brunette from her overly soft bed. It was exactly two in the morning, she glanced at the European clock mounted on the wall across her bed and immediately dismissed the sound as her own imagination when three precise knocks didn't fail to startle her again.

Seira moved up from her bed and took a tentative step towards the door, unlike her previous pacing across the large room which she was sure could've alerted every particle in the area.

She wasn't that surprised when she found Ren in all his glory (complete uniform and posture) in front of the door, hand slightly poised in an attempt to raise his strong knuckles toward the mahogany surface again.

"Sorry if I disturbed anyone, I was just about to get myself some sleep." The brunette said apologetically and actually stifled a yawn which she didn't realize has been building up inside her.

"How about some tea to ease yourself?" The butler smiled in response before receiving a hasty reply from the guest.

"Oh, no, no need for all that trouble. I'm just a little bit stiff after all the travelling." She countered with a polite smile, trying not to sound too suspicious.

"What about a walk in the garden then? The moon should be high up tonight and it seems like today's your day, the roses had just bloomed this morning."

It wasn't that she liked roses or anything, but the offer to further explore the mansion wasn't a chance that she would pass up, even though she was going to be treading alone with an enemy in their own territory.

So, with a weak "Okay." Seira quickly retrieved her cardigan, still in her full PJs and slipped into a pair of comfortable flats before leaving the butler to close the door behind him. She waited outside the suite for awhile before Ren joined her and led the way.

The whole walk indoor was silent as she spent most of it thinking where she might have met her guide that she couldn't stop staring at him and that's when she felt the chilling, night breeze hit her face and a shiver racked her body. She tore her gaze from her companion's broad shoulder to adjust her wool cardigan closer and fastened the middle button together before taking in the new scenery.

Shrubberies of roses, mostly red, filled the sides of a stone pavement which seems to be forming a swirling pattern around a red gazebo with similar exterior as other buildings in the main village; red, intricate patterns which barely served as walls and a grey, pointed roof with curvaceous eave.

Well, that would be the first eastern structure that she had spotted in this building, not that the roses wasn't making it out of place.

Seira followed and tried to remember the way as best as she could, as the male walked towards the shrubberies and maneuvered through an almost invisible path cutting though the thick shrubberies. She was guessing that this was a shortcut instead of running in circles to reach the center of the garden.

In the middle of the gazebo was a marble, tea table supported by a tripod. A steaming pot of transparent tea set sat on top of the smooth surface and Seira held in a sigh as she shook her head and remarked playfully. "What's the use of asking if you've already prepared everything."

Ren gave a polite smile as he pulled a chair for the brunette to rest and poured the steaming brown liquid to the transparent cup. "Well, I was planning on enjoying a steaming cup of tea in the garden, as I usually do and it just happens that I heard you were having some difficulties to sleep."

She watched in amazement as the petals inside the teapot danced with every move of the butler's slender fingers and couldn't help but revert her stare to the familiar face across her for a moment.

This will actually be the first time she had a clear shot of his face without any distraction. And now she was sure he looked like someone she'd met.

Seira watched her steaming cup of tea as she thought hard, and she bit back a scream of success as her mind's barrier finally gave out and took a sip of the brown liquid instead.

Why everything involving that materia kept slipping her mind even though it just happened a few days ago, she couldn't fathom why. Well, she had never been good with memory from the first place. Everything else ignored, now that she had a clear view of the male, she was sure that the mysterious boy who gave her the materia could pass as his younger brother, a shorter and chubbier version of him...minus the eyes. If she had not mistaken the boy had blue iris while her companion tonight had dark brown orbs staring back at her.

"Excuse me, is there something on my face or anything that's bothering you?" The masculine voice snapped her out of her thought and it took some time for the brunette to straighten herself and find her voice again.

Okay, this is embarrassing. Not only he had probably realized her watchful gaze since her arrival this morning but she was now caught doing the act right in front of his face. "No, it's just that I thought I've seen you somewhere and I've finally remembered seeing someone who looked like you."

"In Gaia?" He inquired before taking a sip from his own steaming cup.

In Gaia? Was he supposed to know where she really came from? "Yes, your looks are almost identical except your eyes." She answered hesitantly and took another sip of hot tea to hide her anxiety.

"Wow, that's rare. Actually I may know who you're talking about better than you think." He replied nonchalantly that it took a long moment for Seira to take in the words from his mouth.

"Wha-" The brunette looked up from her cup of tea too suddenly that she felt her head spinning.

And everything went black, someone caught her face before it could reach the table's hard surface and the last thing she noticed was a faint glow emitted from a green sphere.

* * *

Everything was dark and silent except for the constant chirping of crickets which sounded right outside his window. His body was frozen and tensed as if the slightest aberrant noise would make him jump.

The redhead just stayed still and didn't try to move. He knew past well that he was asleep, it was more often this or nightmares and he rather chose the first.

He was usually used to his bizarre way of sleeping and was way past caring about hearing the night past by while his body rested without his mind joining it. But those peaceful nights with Seira had mitigated his resolve and it was just too tiring to bear.

A sudden buzz jolted his body awake and he would usually make fun of the fart-like noise if only he wasn't alone, at an inn with no one to entertain him.

Reno slapped his hand against the nightstand's wooden surface several times before feeling the smooth shell of his mobile device.

"Yo." He opened the electronic device with a flick of his lanky finger and greeted drowsily. If anyone was going to lecture him on his manners of speech, it was definitely not coming from someone calling him at 3 in the morning.

And that's when he heard the gasping female on the other end of his own phone. The redhead froze before he tried to calm his sudden erratic heartbeat and rampant thoughts on myriads of worst case scenarios.

"Who's this?" The male forced in between harsh breaths and tried to convince himself that his biggest fear wasn't happening.

Watching someone he actually cared being used against him.

"Reno..." The other line somehow managed to call out in between sobs and choking breaths. And he can immediately picture the face of the sweet voice's owner.

"Teef? What's wrong?" The somewhat relieved male finally found his strength to sit up before going alert again. He wouldn't be this worried if it wasn't The Tifa Lockheart who was bawling like there wouldn't be tomorrow on the other line of his phone and he kept his serious tone to coax anything from the martial arts master.

"Teef, c'mon speak to me. What's wrong?"

"Cloud..." Was her only response before her voice was drowned out by her own sobs again.

"What's with Cloud, is he okay?"

"He's gone."


	12. Situations

_A/N: Just a few more tests till I finish my A level exams, my dear readers. So please hang on with the short chapters and review please, if you want to see more updates...coz I'm kinda stuck with Hunger games in my head and this story is getting kinda neglected. So yeah, R&R_

* * *

It was around five when his phone rang again and Tseng's deep voice greeted his ears. "Reno, we just lost her."

"Yeah, I know. Teef just filled me in-" The redhead had been sleep deprived for the past few days and had spent the last two hours of his precious resting time to process all the juices he could get from the wrecked barmaid earlier. No traces of any blonde near Fenrir which was found lying in the middle of Midgar's wasteland, except some splatter of blood which immediately crossed out the chances that he was badly wounded and stranded somewhere near the area to be found. Which only leaves them with two possibility that he was either threatened to go somewhere with someone or he was taken by force, the latter fits better with the last phone call Tifa received. But it doesn't make sense how something like this could just happen to The Cloud Strife who had managed to beat The Great General Sepiroth, twice. That would certainly need a lot of both brain and brawl in a person...or people.

"Wait, did you just say her?"

"We lost Seira's signal an hour ago, Reno." There was something different in his boss' tone when he said his name, pity, or was it a command to shut the fuck up and act like a Turk? Whatever it was, it wasn't doing any effect it should have on him.

"An hour ago? And you decided to just call me now?" He hissed at the metal piece pressed against his ear as he could feel all the previous emotion when Tifa first called him resurface through his increasing heart rate and the uncomfortable clench around his jaw and throat.

"We had to make sure that it was really gone and cross out the posibilities of some malfunctions on her phone or our part. The mission will still be executed as planned but you and Rude should stay on guard if anything wrong comes to our notice-"

"You want me to fucking sit here all day and wait for another 40 hours? For all we know she may be dead by now! Call her father and verify what you just said or I'm going to make sure that you watch me rip that house apart!" Reno was hyperventilating and most probably having a facial color similar to his hair by now, and making sure that he remembered to breathe in and out after every word that he managed to shove down the Wutaian's ear was starting to be a task.

"We cannot have any contact with them and risk blowing up our cover. They can kill her anytime, Reno. We're doing all we can with the thought that she is still alive and not seriously injured." And there that tone was again, he could make out that it was more of empathy than pity or sympathy this time.

Reno buried his face against his free hand and roughly dragged it up to his red mane, clenching his fist around it to let the pain remind him to stay on his feet."Tell me she's going to be alright, Tseng." He managed to let out a hoarse voice in between gritted teeth and the constricting lump which was still growing in his throat. Honestly, he didn't know what else to do except cry and scream now. His greatest fear was happening right in front of his eyes. Everything was just falling down.

Tseng was never usually the type of man to sugar coat anything, but even he, couldn't think of a more appropriate situation than now. "She will. She certainly will, Reno, if you can cooperate and make this mission a success. Now tell me about what you mentioned earlier from Tifa."

* * *

Cold, dark and damp was the first thing her senses allowed her to feel, followed by the hard, clothed surface under her back and fingertips as she tried to move what felt like twice the weight of her body.

The brunette opened her heavy eyelids just to close it back at the sudden onslaught of yellow light, eliciting a groan and forceful yank of her right arm up to act as a shield against the offending beam. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was having tea... with the butler. The final thought gave Seira the sudden urge to move from wherever she was lying down, so she forced herself to move to her feet, almost losing balance at the sudden rush of blood to her head and falling at the process.

Hyperventilating was an understatement for her respiration at the moment. She couldn't focus as her eyes darted from every corner of the room, taking in anything that could be indicated as an accessible exit which so far was not visible to her panicked mind.

The dull, square room only consists of the single cot which she found herself laying at ten seconds ago, a covered area which resembled a bathroom at the corner of the room and a small, rectangular attachment with an eye-catching contrasting color on one of the walls. Upon slowly approaching it to calm her senses down and let her rational mind take over again, it became clear that the contrasting color was from the hallway outside the room that she was trapped in and the rectangular attachment was actually an opening on a rusty, metal door.

Through an almost impossible twist of her neck over the small gap, she could see that the hallway was narrow and empty, and painted spotless white unlike her cell which was a mixture of dirt, gray and black. She didn't know if the room was originally painted with this pattern or years of neglect had formed this odd, twisted color on the wall by itself, it was as if no one cared to clean the room anymore.

Where was she actually confined? The room was dull and dark, only illuminated by a dim light bulb hanging from a thick, chopped, black wire which gave her a feeling that it wasn't going to stay up for long. And there was this cold feeling which was biting at her skin since she first woke up. It wasn't the type of cold caused by the low temperature, but it was the kind of chill which made you shiver to the inside of your bones.

A sudden pair of noise snapped the brunette from her trance and Seira immediately backed away from the door which she didn't realize was still starring back at her. The sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway but she could still distinguish its decreasing distance from her prison and then there was a metallic noise which reminded her of big, heavy chains clanging against each other. And her heart immediately dropped with fear of what might happen to her next.

The lock on the camouflaging door rattled and was flung open as she barely made out the small figure standing upon the bright exit.

"Wha-" She stopped at her chocked voice and swallowed a few times, only now realizing that her throat was as parched as her cracked lips.

"Well, look who's finally awake here." The voice startled her as she didn't fail to recognize him again this time.

It didn't take long for her to squint and confirm her thoughts of her captor's identity. It was the boy who gave her the materia in Edge. "You-what are you doing here?" And there she heard another sound of chains being pulled against each other, it was a relief that the apparatus wasn't from her visitor but she was getting suspicious about the source of the noise which sounded nearby.

"You still haven't found out? I thought a familiar face would help you relax and you would've put two and two together after our last conversation, Seira."

"Seira, is that really you?" Another voice rang through the silent hallway outside her cell and she couldn't help but reply at the unknown speaker, temporarily taking her eyes off the boy and searching for the source.

"Who-"

" What the hell are you doing to her! Let her go you bastard!" The brunette's voice was drowned by the other man's swearing and more indication of struggles with the chains which she kept hearing earlier. And a fitting face immediately filled her head with the low and masculine, yet gentle and soft baritone unlike Rude's bass voice.

"Cloud?" She whispered, more like to herself before calling the blonde's name out loud, moving her head around the room as if he was hidden somewhere. "Cloud? Why are you here? What about Tifa?"

"Looks like the cast has finally gathered, now, I didn't think an introduction was needed again but since you seem to be unable to grasp the situation." The boy who was suddenly standing in front of her made her jump and move back until the wall against her back stopped her from going any further. "Stop." He casted, immediately silencing the other blonde who's position was still unknown before shaking his head in annoyance, his dirty blond locks following the slight movement. "Transform." And then the last thing she was expecting happened.

No, he didn't produced any sadistic surgical or non-surgical equipment to open her up on the spot and do god knows what to her organs, but he decided to transform into Ren, the Reno-ish butler who up till now was directed by all the events and evidence to be the one making her end up here, in this situation.

"No, that's impossible, what about your eyes?"

"We have lenses here too." He replied nonchalantly as the now bigger man stepped forward and took something out of his shirt's breast pocket.

The brunette immediately froze at the sharp looking, glinting needle at the end of a transparent syringe in his hand before trying to move anywhere away from him. She was already backed to the wall so what was left now was getting cornered with the little space to run blocked by the white, plain cot near her.

What were the odds of getting away without getting stabbed by the small, yet terrifying needle if she just lunged forward and run for the door?

"Ice" She wasn't even given the time to take action as the lanky male casted the freezing block of ice on her left wrist and the wall. How many materias did this guy even bring with him, did he think she was that much of a trouble?

"Fire." Seira casted through her right hand in respond, not really caring what damage the small ember projectile on her other hand would cause on her own body, being iced with a blizzard directly to her skin was already painful enough.

"There's no use in fighting back, Seira. Your weakened magic won't be able to fight against my mastered materia." He was suddenly already near enough to drawl near her ear, involuntarily rising the hair at the back of her neck and a wave of nausea. So that was the aim of giving her that materia, they knew it would drain and render her useless when she arrived in Wutai and he'll be able to operate whatever his sick plan was.

The way he called her name was sickening, combined with the freezing ice on her wrist which was giving her quite a hard time to concentrate and fight against the bigger male who was already towering over her smaller frame.

She cried out at the painful force he applied to her right wrist as he yanked it up over her head, immediately extinguishing the fire spell which was still on her palm and the little energy which she used to kick her leg out in his groin's general direction.

Her vision was already blurred by the tears threatening to spill at the excruciating pain that had caught both of her forearms by surprise but the sudden sting and feeling of the small prick penetrating her elbow's flesh made her instantly froze as if her captor had casted a stop spell on her.

Injection had always been at the top of her no-never list ever since she remembered she could think, it was just uncomfortable knowing that something was taken out or inserted into her. And she was sure the situation couldn't get any worst than this. She could feel every move of the metal inside her as if it was very much alive and going deep into her system without stopping but as usual it was done without her noticing and a sudden rough yank of her chin to face up made her unscrew her jade orbs to stare directly at the other blue pair.

"Don't fight back if you treasure your life...or your dad's." And with that, the blonde released his painful grip and turned around without watching the girl slipped down lifelessly to the floor.

It took a long ten minutes of sticking her head inside the toilet bowl and taking out what little content was left from her empty stomach, after she heard the noisy sound of metallic lock before Seira was able to sigh in relieve and wipe her moist eyes dry. She felt around her left arm which still had that lingering sting of her flesh adjusting with the tiny hole and realized that it was covered by a small swab of cotton and tape.

Was it just her or was he acting a little bit too much for a villain?

* * *

Three precise knocks reverberated throughout the large office, earning a curt "Enter." From the skinny Wutaian who didn't bother to look up from the documents he was skimming and signing through.

"We've got the test results, sir." Ren bowed deeply before he approached his superior and placed a file on top of one of the trays on the mahogany desk.

"Good, proceed to the next phase immediately."

"But sir, we found something...different on her tests." The blonde's hesitation instantly caught his boss' attention and earned a dubious stare which made him shift his footing uncomfortably before the extra attention was moved to the newly placed report on top of the tray.

The younger male could see the elder's hand which was starting to grasp harder at the thin papers and it didn't take long for the expected to happen. He stood in wait for the manila folder to hit his face and Kino's outburst.

"How accurate is this?" His rage came as expected and he stood up with haste before he started pacing behind his desk with a hand on top of his chest, trying to stabilize his own heartbeat.

"We've rerun the test more than twice." He answered with little vigor and picked up the fallen papers.

"Curse that goddamn Turk! It must be him!"

Ren waited for another minute before he dared to ask. "What should be our next step, sir?"

And the wutaian stopped dead on his tracks, deep in his thought for a moment before he replied with a wicked grin."Continue as planned but be more cautious with her state."

"As you command, sir." The blonde made his way to retreat before he was stopped midway by his master's call.

"And Ren."

"Do you need anything else, sir?"

"Don't forget to make sure that redhead pays for this. I'm sure he'll visit soon."


	13. Revelations

_A/N: Over with exams finally! Updates should come more regularly from now on. So don't forget to R&R to remind my lazy ass not to get too carried away with holidays! _

* * *

Cloud finally came to at the metallic noises from the chains attached to the shackles binding his hands and the wall above his head. He moved his arms experimentally before believing his mouth to take over. "Seira, are you alright?" The noises from the chains hid the urgent tone in his voice as he struggled to get as near as possible to the wall on his left side, where the brunette's voice was last heard from.

"Yeah, somehow." Seira groaned against the toilet bowl as she tried her best not to move until her head would stop spinning.

In his stop induced brain, he could still hear her scream at one point and the other male's retreat before she began throwing up. "You don't sound that good. What did he...?" The blonde asked hesitantly as he rubbed at his bare, left forearm absentmindedly. These people obviously knew what they were doing or they wouldn't bother to take his ribbon which had made him immune to almost all status magic and also made him feel less lonely at times. Not to mention the material that they used to make his restraints.

"Nah, I've been sick since I came here. Save for almost ripping my arm from its socket, he just took some blood and nothing else." She retorted and waved her hand dismissively above her head before feeling another wave of nausea hit her again.

Only blood sample from her too? That was never a good sign but at least it meant that they needed them alive. As long as they could find what they were searching for. But why him and Seira? "You know where we are?" The noises made by the chains sounded louder at the quiet space and it annoyed him to no end that the slightest movement that he made would cause such a ruckus. He would've pulled at it as hard as possible again if only his wrist weren't already bloodied and bruised.

"...Somewhere in Wutai?"

The blonde had decided to sit on the floor silently, trying not to tangle any of the chains with his own limbs before the brunette's answer made him fall on his bottom and caused another metallic orchestra. "Wutai? How do you know?" The last thing he remembered was riding Fenrir on the way to Edge, how could he even reach another continent without him knowing was a big mystery.

"I came with dad to inve-visit one of grandpa's old friend in Wutai and check my health. But then his butler knocked me out and the next thing I know, I'm here in the brightest place on the planet." Seira was just not in the mood but at least her common sense was still working. Her capture didn't mean the whole mission's compromised. This place might be under heavy surveillance and the Turks' infiltration could be the only key to their escape. "Cloud, do you know what time or date it is? How did you even end up here at the first place and what about Tifa?"

The thought of Tifa immediately made his heart sunk to the lowest depths of the northern crater. He should've been back since god knows when, he just hoped the baby could take it well. The place couldn't be more strategically built to make people lost track of time; no windows or anything connected to the outside, no pattern for food's arrival and guard's shift, since their hadn't been any signs of guards checking around since his arrival. "I went to Mideel the morning after the surprise party, two days later I almost reach Edge but got caught on the way. I think I woke up when you were placed next door and they took some of my blood too. One meal had arrived since I woke up."

Seira somehow managed to drag herself back to the cot and lie down with a sigh of relieve as she listened to Cloud. "I was also caught two days after the party, at about 3 in the morning. Which means it could be either afternoon or evening right now." She breathed hard as she focused on the ceiling which wouldn't stop spinning in her point of view. The Turks would be here at the third night since her arrival, which means she had more than a day left to think of an escape plan or do something to notify Reno of her current position.

Why him and Seira? The blonde continued his previous inquiry. If they took his blood samples, it was obvious that this would be related with Jenova cells, but Seira? Of course she was special, she could use magic without materia...magic would be heavily related with the Lifestream since materia's were basically condensed Lifestream and the only people who could access its knowledge would be...

No, that wouldn't be possible. Even if the impossible happened, why would they collect Jenova and a Cetra who had clearly been enemies since the northern crater was first formed? "Seira, has your grandfather ever told you about your lineage?"

"My lineage? You mean the magic without materia thing?"

"Hm." He nodded in approval as if she could see him.

"Nope, all he said was about his knowledge preserved in all those old books he had...Do you think there's a connection with all this?"

"I don't know, but it could be a possibility."

* * *

The sun was already halfway up when Kyle woke up to the sound of knocking from his door. "Yes?"

"Master Kino is out at the moment and will be back for lunch. Shall I serve your breakfast or do you wish to rest a little longer?" The neatly attired butler opened the door and slipped in to stand right in front of it.

The older male felt a bit embarrassed with the displayed contrast of their appearance. While he was still fresh from the bed; complete with the bed hair and blue pajamas, the younger male was already meticulously groomed from head to toe.

"You can serve the food now. I'll just wake my daughter and get ready." He flipped the thick blanket over him before allowing Ren to open the door for him and walked to the room across from his.

"Sei, are you up?" He raised his fist and rapped at the mahogany surface before deciding to just go in. His daughter wouldn't mind, she would most probably be too busy trying to wake up that she wouldn't care."Sei?" He could tell that the bed was empty even from his position, the cover was a bit tossed to one side and no presence of the brunette could be seen. But as he stepped into the room and stuck his ear to the bathroom's door which was also silent and not locked, it came to his view that the window leading to the balcony was open.

Kyle placed one hand at the empty bed just to find it already cold, whilst his eyes were still trained at the open window. No, it wouldn't be possible, he knew best that his daughter wasn't the type of girl to do anything reckless like that, right? The father's mind was busy as he approached the balcony with a troubled heart.

It took a lot of strength for him to bend down and look for any signs of Seira on the ground one floors below, just to find nothing. A flood of relieve filled him even though he had such strong faith in the brunette's way of thinking.

But if she wasn't anywhere in the room, where would she be then?

* * *

"Reno!" Rude called with a stern tone and snapped his partner who had been lying on the couch in his room and wouldn't stop tossing and turning and basically just changing his position for the past thirty minutes.

"Yeah?" The redhead replied reflexively and stayed alert for a moment before he laid back and continued his previous act at the lack of activity. He was currently agitated to no end. There had been no updates from Tseng and the mission was still a long way to go and the bald Turk's silence wasn't helping at all.

"Just call him and stop moving around." His partner's deep voice and the pair of hands which yanked the collar of his white shirt up surprised him for a moment as he landed on his bottom and was faced with Rude's brown eyes or what was covered by his trademark shades.

"Whoa, Rude. Never knew you could be a sadist as well." Reno somehow managed to smirk over his troubled look and rubbed his neck which was slightly chafed by the soft material of his shirt, before taking his phone and dialing one of his speed dials.

It didn't take more than a few tones when another deep male's voice filled his ears. "Right on time, Reno, we'd just found Fujitsu Kino's database."

"And? Anything we haven't known?"

"There was almost nothing we'd previously discovered recorded."

"Just get to the juice." The second in command hurried his boss.

"Fujitsu Kino was never a Shinra spy, to be exact, he worked with professor Hojo and Kilmister for a couple of years before returning home and being accused as a spy for Shinra." Tseng explained briefly.

And Reno immediately went pale at the revelation. Hell no, he was already expecting everything but not this. Hojo's name had been an epitome of something even worse than death, even none of the Turks liked him until now. And knowing the posibility that Seira's life was on the hand of someone who used to work with that sick bastard was bringing his concern to another different level than hearing her life being in the hands of a murderer. "I want this mission to be commenced as soon as possible, director."

"Yes, we're already working on that."

* * *

"What happened?" Kino barged into the room, slightly panting and immediately spotted the dejected looking father sitting on the couch.

Kyle who had been pacing the room and finally decided to sit still and bury his face in his hands looked up at the Wutaian's voice. "Seira's gone."

"What do you mean by gone?"

The golden-brown haired man pushed himself up, eyes still casted down and trudged to the older man as he spoke. "She wasn't in her room when I woke up, or anywhere near the mansion."

"Yes, master, we've searched the entire building and the area around and couldn't found anything." Ren who had been in the room too was a bit worried by Kyle's behavior as he approached his boss whose attention was divided to him.

And it didn't surprise them when Kyle grabbed at the older man's white shirt's collar and barked at his face. "Where did you take her?" He hissed in between gritted teeth and let realization hit him hard when he saw the smirk on Kino's face for a split second before the concerned frown took over again.

This couldn't possibly be happening. This sly bastard really took Seira and he had probably ruined the whole mission which would be the only chance of taking her back.

"Why would I take your lovely daughter from you, Kyle? You know me best that I would never do that to you, my best friend's son and my friend too."

Yea right, the brunet spat in his mind but instead tried to salvage any glimmer of hope which could save his daughter. "I know, I'm sorry Kino. I'm sorry I just throw it all on you. But it's just...she's in a foreign country and the last thing I wanted was her getting lost or any trouble." He loosened his hand around the soft material and looked down again instead.

"Don't worry, Kyle. We'll definitely find her. Any leads about her disappearance?" Kino patted the younger male's shoulder before turning back to his butler again.

"There was no sign of struggles and the window was open when we first entered the room but nothing was missing except her cardigan, shoes and phone."

"It really seemed more likely that Seira went away with someone that she knows, Kyle."

"No, that's impossi-"

"Is there someone that she knew currently residing at Wutai?"

"No." Kyle let no hesitance heard at his voice. He really meant yes, but he wouldn't let himself believe that they could act as unprofessional as this at their job. Especially when it was the said missing person herself who proposed the plan to go to Wutai, she wouldn't screw the whole mission just to have some time with her boyfriend.

"Okay then, if you're sure. We'll increase the search's perimeter and you should just stay here and try to relax, Kyle." Kino patted both of his shoulder before retreating with his butler.

"Wait, I'll join the search." Kyle followed suit just to find the door being closed right on his face and the sound of a lock being turned snapped him back to reality. "Kino! What is this for? let me go!"

"I'm sorry Kyle, but this is for your own good. Just stay here and try to think of anything you could remember about her location. We'll definitely find her for you." The pale man ignored the loud banging behind the door and whispered with a sickly wide smile before leaving with his employee. "It's not like you can do anything."


	14. Worth it

_A/N: I'm sincerely sorry for the lack of update! I really got carried away with the end of high school, I know I'll really miss it, but I just can't help myself from enjoying it too much._

_It won't be bullshit when I said that I love writing this fic. I bet most of you guys had also realized the sudden down in no. of FF7 fics for the last couple of months and it was pretty much affecting my fanfic reading and writing mood too, before I got a review (after quite a long time of not getting one for this story) from __Dontgotaclue88__ which really felt like a slap to my face. So here's the next chapter. Enjoy, R&R._

_And a humongous shoutout goes to __Grell Waldo__ and __Dontgotaclue88 __who also reviewed Love and Sin! _

_And before I post this, I just finished reading Outcast by FantasticalWhisper. It's one of the last descent FF7 fics that I read these days, it really pumped my own will to write when I read that story, You guys should definitely check it out! Considering if you guys don't hate OCs, coz you're reading mines. That girl can really create OCs which you'll definitely love and young Vincent is there too!_

* * *

Reno and Rude watched as the black, Shinra labeled chopper landed at the bare forest ground. Tseng appearing out of it before the noisy rotor blades had even slowed its beating around the air, stirring his medium length, jet black locks behind him. "Report." He stated to his lanky second in command who, as usual, didn't bother to take his hands out of his pockets.

"We've got the blue print of the house and its security plan." The redhead filled in before his silent partner suddenly added. " We're ready to go."

Reno continued with a smirk. "Just drop the order." Rude had never failed to amuse him ever since they first met almost a decade ago. If he looked calm enough now, it would be thanks to his partner's silent, unchanging presence beside him since the crack of dawn. Rude had always acted like an anchor to his volatile life, always keeping him checked and stopping him from drifting too far from the dock. He would have to remember to give him the usual thrill that he loved most, later.

The raven haired man nodded in approval before he turned around and walk away. "Proceed to the target, report once you've reached."

* * *

Meanwhile, Cloud and Seira who was held captive had fallen back to silence since their last conversation, the first trying to connect the dots while the latter had pretty much dozed off as she thought of an escape plan.

"Sei, Seira, are you alright?" The concerned voice jolted the brunette awake from her light slumber as if her soul had jumped from a great height before entering back to her body.

"What, what happened?" She looked around anxiously and repeated, slightly panting while her heart beat painfully against her chest.

"Are you okay? You weren't answering all of a sudden." Came the blonde's voice after some pause filled with the metallic chain noises again.

"Yeah, just dozed off for a moment." She rubbed her eyes to remove any remnants of sleep but couldn't help but find herself yawning again. Her body felt like lead, it was hard to move as she tried to wake up but fell back on the hard surface instead. It was as if she had just woken up from a bad dream and half of her soul wasn't fully awake yet.

"I bet only you and Reno could've slept in a situation like this." The thought actually made them smile and seemed to lighten the mood as Seira sustained the topic.

"I don't think so, Cloud. He doesn't really sleep that much, you know. Believe it or not, he's more of a morning person than me." The brunette chuckled as she remembered the mornings they had spent together. She missed how Reno always knew how to wake her up without ruining her mood. He was never the subtle one, but he always knew how to treat her as gentle as he could, never treating her as some pathetic damsel in distress but at the right time as if she was a fragile doll which could break with the slightest pressure.

"Really? Anyways, how's Reno doing?"

"He's good...I guess."

"I mean... " Cloud stumbled with his words as well as the chains binding his limbs for a moment. Tifa had reminded him so many times that the Turk's relationship was okay and not worth worrying, but he just couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities of Reno being Reno of the Turks. They had been the villain for quite a long time after all, and this wasn't about him who thought they haven't repented enough in the past 5 years after that day, it was about every other living soul who survived Shinra's reign. "How's Reno and you doing?"

A relationship doesn't only consist of spending time together after all. Sacrifices were also a part of it.

"We're good, Cloud. Reno is...not as bad as he look." The brunette didn't say it in an offended tone, but more like a mother's gentle reminder at her child's silly action.

But still, Cloud found himself embarrassed for doubting the judgment of two of the wisest women he had ever met. "No, Seira. It's not Reno I'm talking about, I mean, you know his job, right. And everyone knows that its way easier to make an enemy rather than friend out of his line of occupation-"

"He's worth it, Cloud." She immediately interjected without giving any other thought to it. Their life had never been so peaceful even without any other additional external conflicts to start with. And come to think of it now, knowing Reno as he is, he must've ponder about the possible outcomes which Cloud had just pointed out to her countless time in his head. Imagining the worst case scenario in his mind until he was sick and frustrated of his own thoughts, she wondered why he decided to give it a try, instead of just blocking her out. If he didn't give up on their relationship, why would she? "I love him that much, I love him as much as Tifa loves you and never gave up on you all those years, Cloud-"

Their conversation was cut short at the sudden loud, screeching noise which greatly resembled a firework at launch. Both of the prisoners immediately reached up to cover their ears and screwed their eyes shut, before crouching down on the floor as the explosion rocked the ground.

"What the hell?" The brunette's voice was drowned by the noise of a wide variety of blasts overhead. What the hell is happening out there? The Turk's weren't even supposed to be here before another couple of hours.

As soon as the bombings stopped, Cloud and Seira recoiled to their feet, the first failing miserably as he had forgotten about his bindings and landed back to the ground on his bottom, while the latter experienced a sharp, blinding pain at her abdomen region and fell on her knees.

The blonde heard the explosions on top of his head which pretty much confirmed their position being underground, followed by gasps of pain from the other room next to his which pretty much said that something wrong was happening. Unfortunately, their rooms were separated by a thick concrete wall without any gaps in between and there was absolutely no means for him to see what was happening next door except by the sounds escaping from the small window on their doors which leads to the same hallway.

Cloud was already calling out her name for a minute or two when he heard frantic footsteps approaching them, followed by the metallic groan of a door opening. While the said man, Ren, who was the one making all the ruckus felt his blood drained as he heard one of the captive's concerned voice calling out to the unresponsive brunette.

Anything could've happened to a woman at her condition and finding her curled up, clutching at her stomach on the floor wasn't enlightening at all.

For a moment, it was only her moans and the pain which had knocked the air out of her and made her screw her eyes shut painfully. Seconds felt agonizingly long and minutes felt like hours. But the pain eventually subsided, or it was only her getting used to the hot, burning pain which had become an uncomfortable dull throb on her stomach. And before she knew it a pair of strong hands had took hold of her arms and hoisted her back up to the cot. The brunette relaxed from the fetal position the pain had forced her into and opened her damp eyes just to find Ren's face hovering on top of her. She was in a daze as she watched his expression for some period of time, there was a grave and worried look on his face, as if he was really scared of something bad happening to her.

And the adrenaline kicked in, she felt everything went so slow yet passed so fast and how her body could move fluidly without any second thoughts. One moment her hands were reaching out to his collar and in the next blur, she had pulled him close and land a blow on his neck before pushing him to the floor with a kick to his groin.

Seira ran out of the dark room and locked the door with the keys that were luckily still hanging on its lock without batting an eye to the groaning man who couldn't even stand up on the cell's floor. She didn't have any time to complain on how her long planned escape had ended up in such a cliché manner as she approached Cloud's confinement two doors next her own.

The sight of his gravity defying, golden locks were rather hard to miss as she tried to open and unchain the large padlock with her trembling hands.

"What happened, Seira?" The blonde asked at the sight of the brunette finally entering the dull confinement. And honestly, he looked better than what she had expected, except for the dirt patches on his dark vest, trail of blood on the side of his head and a busted lip.

"There's no time, Cloud. I'm not sure if the Turks are already here. I hope they are." Seira hurried towards him before dropping to his level to unlock the shackles around his wrists. The brunette was appalled when she saw the condition of his wrists, to such extend that she could feel her stomach's acid coming up again. The whole areas covered by the hard, metal cuffs were a mixed color of bright red and indigo. And she swore she could see raw flesh camouflaged by flakes of dried blood.

"That was the Turks?" He asked again.

"They should be coming tonight. Maybe they changed the plan?" And she asked herself back rather than answering the lost blonde's inquiries, while she raised a hand on top of his now exposed flesh. "Cu-"

"Stop, there's no need for that. Save your energy, Sei. I heard what they did to you." The swordsman took her hand and pulled her up with him instead, slightly wincing at the sharp sting at both of his wrists and ankles.

What little pride he had left was not allowing him to regret not accepting those cure spells.

* * *

Reno had sworn in front of Rude and Tseng that he would rip the whole bloody house down and kill any single soul who dare stands in his way if he had to, in order to find Seira and bring her back. But after making their way in with ease, it almost seemed as if he alone was overreacting and making a whole fuss of it as he walked-more like strolled- through the empty hallways.

Reno and Rude's grand entrance (through the back door) had been easy, since they had rendered all the security useless and the sun wasn't even halfway down yet, that they didn't suspect anything wrong when there were no guards to hinder them.

But the duo started sensing this eerie feeling that something was greatly wrong, when they found the room Kyle was in. Finding him wasn't the problem, with the entire ruckus he was making echoing through the entire house as if not a living soul was there, getting him out was one. With the thick, mahogany, double doors and an unidentified lock blocking their way, using brute force was a faster and better option than picking the lock and be like sitting ducks waiting to be caught on the act on the process. They haven't seen a single soul checking on the uproar caused by the brunet alone so far, a few more wouldn't matter, right?

"_Where is she?"_ Reno had spoken with the highest level of desperation in his tone that he had ever remembered hearing once they managed to break in, catching Rude and even the said man himself by surprise.

Yes, the redhead had realized that her presence in his life had changed him greatly. But there were times that it still surprised him to know how far was the effect she had on him, like how gentle he could be to a person, may it be his actions or words, the abrupt change of his self destructing lifestyle and the last but of utmost importance, was his now less effective judgment as a senior member of the former Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department or more commonly known as the infamous Turks.

There was a time that he was one of the most sadistic bastard in town, during Shinra's evil reign, completing a job with whatever skills and means it takes, without involving a drop of his own conscience, during work hours, which pretty much means till the last drop of blood left in your body were drained once you've joined the ranks.

Looking back at those times, it was weird how he could laugh at it and yet still bet his whole gill that he would've died in less than a minute during duty if he had been the changed man he was now. Sloppy as always, minus his 24/7 guards and an extra weakness which he couldn't carry around or store in one place that was in form of a brunette.

But the world had changed, as well as its people, Turk included. And he was willing to take the risk in this evolved planet and see what will happen in the future.

And she was also damn worth it.

After the gathering, it didn't take long for the future in-laws to have an agreement for the very first time since their disastrous meeting. Fujitsu Kino was certainly the one behind everything. And be damned, they were going to make sure that he taste and savor hell through their own hands.

The redhead activated the bombs Seira had planted with his trademark cocky smirk plastered on his face and no hesitation. He knew that Tseng would've killed him if he knew that they haven't acquired any solid evidence, but if her life was in the line, anything which could serve as a distraction to the villain was acceptable.

Reno, Rude and Kyle finally decided to split up when both the Turk's bad feelings were proven to be true. Five minute had passed after the three explosives were detonated and not a single living had showed up anywhere near the sites.

About twenty minutes had passed since the bombs were dropped and Reno was on the edge of his sanity as he opened another door to a random room filled with all sorts of cleaning products and utensils. He immediately slammed the door shut, buried his face in his hands and leaned back on the door before sliding down and gently landed on his bottom.

He knew that he wasn't searching right, but with everything they had just discovered in the last hour, his mind was already screaming that she wouldn't be here anymore. And the thought was killing him.

How will he find her if they had took her out of this area, or possibly out of Wutai? Searching throughout the planet would be time consuming, when time was one of the most important factors of his chances finding her breathing or not.

His mouth was suddenly dry and swallowing hurts as if there was a ball of needles jammed in his throat. It was crazy how many times he could feel this huge sensation of fear in just a single day, he just couldn't help those images of unpleasant scenarios rushing into his head like a flood of memory replaying in his mind.

The corner of his eyes were already warm with moisture as he screwed his eyes shut and dragged his long fingers through his scarlet locks before slamming his head against the hard surface behind him. Once, twice, thrice and a couple more. It didn't help ease the pain inside, but it made his mind unable to think for a moment.

"Reno?"

Apparently it also made him think of something nice like her voice too.

"Reno! Are you okay?"

And her touch on his shoulders.

"Reno!"

And an eye opening slap.

Reno actually thought his mind finally stopped working for a moment. What he saw when his eyes involuntarily opened were more of a punch to his mind, the usual pair of jade orbs that he used to stare when he had the chance, curly, golden brown locks which he loved to weave with his own fingers and those small, pale lips which he always touch with his own.

She was the epitome of perfect in his eyes and he would never let her out of his sight, ever again.

The brunette herself was confused at her lover's reaction, he wasn't moving an inch except for blinking and opening his eyes after she slapped him and finding him slouched on an abandoned hallway wasn't helping ease her mind."Reno?" She called out gently and placed a hand on his cheeks as if he was an old sculpture which could crumble at the slightest touch. And it surprised her how that one, small touch could snap him out of his trance.

Cloud, who had been behind her all this time saw an all too familiar hurt look on the Turk's face before the redhead pulled Seira into his arms and buried his face on her shoulder. The blonde felt like a fool for worrying their relationship if Reno could pull a face like that. He himself had been too familiar with that look a few years ago.

"Goddamit, don't you ever do this to me again." The blonde heard him whisper with a cracked voice, he didn't know if it was either from his covered mouth or his wounded heart. But neither mattered as he turned around and decided to wait in a far corner to give them some privacy.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm here right now, Reno." Seira felt devastated when she saw the look on Reno's face. How could she make him feel that kind of pain?

How could she give him the need to hold her so tight with his trembling hands that she felt like she was melting into him...?

And melting into darkness...


	15. Almost, a Happy Ending

_A/N: Wow, I can't believe I managed to update this story in less than a month. Haven't done that for awhile. Anyways just wanna say that this story's gonna end in I think maximum 3 chaps or so. So stick with me till the end dear readers!_

_Shout out to Dontgotaclue88 again!_

_R&R_

* * *

Reno, who was practically squeezing the life out of the brunette and breathing her in, directly took notice of her arms which suddenly went slack and the sudden cease of any movement except her breathing.

"Sei?" The redhead called out hesitantly, immediately distracting Cloud who was busy with his thoughts of Tifa and his phone which was unfortunately lost in battle, again.

"Reno!" The blonde waste no time and called out as he approached the pair, ignoring the other's incredulous look as he laid eyes on him. "Take her to a doctor. She was also in pain earlier, but I don't know why since we were in a different cell."

Cloud instantly shivered at the sight displayed as the redhead unwrapped his arms from the unconscious girl and her head slightly lolled back. Goose bumps crept up his arms and an ominous feeling immediately clouded over his heart. It was as if the Turk was clutching at a corpse, Seira was unnaturally still and her face was extremely pale like a piece of used paper drained from its color.

"How did you-"Reno shook his head as if to rid the question from his mind before moving his attention back to the matter at hand. He fished out his mobile phone out of his pocket and tossed it to the other male before easily positioning the out cold brunette on top of his arms to carry her, bridal style.

The swordsman reflexively caught the communication device in his hand and followed its owner as he walked away and continued speaking without glancing behind.

"Call Tseng, tell him that the mansion is already empty when we came and I need a chopper in front of the building to take Sei to the nearest hospital now. And inform Rude that the mission's clear before you call Tifa." He quickly broke into a sprint after finishing the orders, leaving Cloud, who busily jabbed his fingers at the mobile device behind.

It was no surprise when he finally exited the house and saw Tseng was already waiting with a running, black, Shinra labeled helicopter behind him.

"Cloud didn't tell much, what happened inside?" The raven haired man inquired professionally as he let the couple move in first.

"I don't know. She appeared out of nowhere with Cloud and suddenly fainted." He explained briefly as they sat across each other. The redhead was honestly in no condition to think. It was as if his hectic mind had immediately went overload at the moment he laid eyes on her earlier and stopped working properly since then.

The silence stretched as the helicopter boosted before flying forward.

Tseng was still slightly disoriented at his subordinate's behavior, Reno was ignoring the stretcher that he had provided in the middle of the seating area and chose to place her horizontally on his lap, while the brunette's upper torso was awkwardly pressed against his own.

Looking at them this close was actually disturbing him more than he would like to admit himself. Especially when Reno was acting like an expecting cat who was ready to attack at any moment he felt the slightest danger approaching. And the fact that Seira was still wearing her night garments and nothing more except a thin cardigan wasn't helping at all.

Tseng broke the silence as he took notice of a patch of blood on Reno's dark pants which had spread to Seira's own attire and caught him off guard. "You should've told me earlier if you were hurt, Reno."

"Eh, no I'm not..." The redhead was immediately alerted as he lifted the unconscious girl a mere inch away from his lap and saw that the Turk's leader was right, there was a circular darker patch on his black pants which was also on Seira's rear.

But he wasn't even scratched, why would there be blood.

"Reno, you can't carry her like that." Realization seemed to dawn on the elder Turks first as he immediately pried the brunette from Reno's hold and moved her to the stretcher in front of them. He moved her body so that she was lying on her left side, facing her back against Reno before rummaging through what looks like a first aid box below his seat as the other man was only able to stare at her bloody backside.

Since when had she started bleeding? Right when she fainted, while she was being carried on his arms, or even before that?

His whole body was trembling in dread and fear, his heart thudding a tad too hard against his ribs for his liking. He hadn't noticed that she was bleeding this heavily, didn't bother to look or ask since all he cared was her presence near him.

"Reno! Snap out of it! She needs you here, now!" Tseng scolded him, emphasizing with the best disapproving look he could show.

"w-what should I do?" The redhead finally stood and stammered as he blocked all his thoughts with his superior's orders, not daring to look up yet.

"Wipe the blood with this towel..."

He was mortified beyond his comprehension. He had never felt this kind of fear before, not even meteor gave him this frightening feeling over his whole being.

And to think that a frail looking woman was the source of it.

A mere human being who can change her mind without any rational reasons.

Just another life that could disappear without his consent.

The thought alone was killing him...slowly.

* * *

Reno had managed to drag himself to one of the chairs aligning the side of the walls in front of the treatment room before his legs failed him. He leaned forward almost perpendicularly before burying his face in his hands again. It seemed to be a habit these days, hiding his face in his hands for awhile before dragging it painfully up along his scarlet locks to keep him on his feet.

"Reno-" Tseng started but was immediately cut by the frustrated man sitting across him.

"It's normal...It's normal for every women to bleed every month, right."

"Reno..." The Wutainese started again, with a definite tone of disapproval this time. But his speech was cut short again as an array of footsteps ran towards them.

Reno didn't bother to see who had came as he could immediately recognize Cloud and Kyle's voice, followed by Rude's distinct grunt as the silent Turk took a seat beside him. He didn't need Tseng to continue what he was going to say, he himself knew what he had just said was a desperate denial with the most likely chance of it happening being next to zero.

"Tifa want to talk to you." Cloud tapped on the redhead's shoulder with something solid, immediately gaining his attention as he looked up and saw his open phone outstretched from the blonde's hand.

"Yo." He replied lifelessly after placing the device against his ear and walking away from the crowd to another hidden corner.

"Reno? I heard about Seira. What happened?" The barmaid's gentle voice was somehow soothing his mind. Making him conscious of how senseless he had been.

Reno finally let out a sigh which he had been unconsciously holding back and leant against the wall behind him. It felt like a part of the weight on his shoulder was lifted. "There was a lot of blood... She was bleeding in between her legs."

The silence suddenly grew thick as Tifa pondered the thought in her head.

"How are you feeling?"

"I...I don't know. Too much is happening right now." He sat down on the cold floor and propped his head on his hand before sighing again.

His mind hasn't even processed the thought of him having a child or being a father. All he could think right now was only her and whether she would survive unscathed from all of this or not.

"Don't worry, Reno. I know you love her too much to hurt her...On the other hand, make sure not to hurt yourself." The Turk was caught by surprise at what he had heard and couldn't help but let the upward motion on the edges of his lips.

"Thanks, Teef. I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

After not more than twenty minutes, the waiting room's occupant had doubled with the added presence of Seira's whole family and Elena who was already with them before they heard the news.

Reno had gained back his momentum after the short conversation with Tifa and started contributing to the report they had gathered on the last two days' event.

He didn't know if Tseng had told anyone about Seira's bleeding or not, it wasn't a surprise if he hadn't since no one seemed to be mentioning it.

The double door on the end of the hallway was suddenly pushed open and closed by itself with a loud noise which immediately hushed the crowd nearby like a judge's gavel.

"Seira Howard's relatives?" The middle aged doctor asked, receiving vigorous nods and yes' from her family.

By now, everybody had stood up anxiously and was directing their undivided attention to the slightly plump man. The redhead bounced on the balls of his feet as he watched the typical looking doctor gave the charts he was holding a last glance.

"Both of them are stable now, she must've been through a lot of physical and mental stress, not to mention dehydra-"

"Both...of them?" Kyle, who stood next to his wife asked hesitantly as Reno who was standing on the other side of the elderly woman who was carrying Reno junior couldn't sense any hostility from him. There was just pure astonishment on his look.

"Well, it isn't a surprise no one knew. Congratulations, her pregnancy had just hit its third week after all, I wonder if she had even realized it or not. I can see quite a lot of young man assembled here, may I know who the father is, if he's here? "

"Ah, I am." The news still surprised the Turks even though both of them had been expecting something similar to this being announced. But it was more of a surprise that the voice who spoke earlier wasn't Reno's, immediately giving them a somehow more genuine stunned expression.

It was the older male brunette who had reflexively answered, still with an innocent, puzzled face, instantly redirecting everyone's curious and mortified gazes to him.

The uncomfortable silence stretched.

And the doctor cleared his throat before continuing. "I can see that you are Seira's father. But what I meant was the baby's father. It's usually best for him to be the one breaking the news if she hasn't known. She could be awake anytime." He stopped again as he wiped his forehead that had started to perspire profusely under the awkward silence which had ensued twice by now. His patient's family was just looking so lost that he didn't know where to start.

Reno almost jumped when the woman beside him gave his shoulder a weak push and smiled as he finally stumbled out of his trance. "Go and see her first, we'll talk to the doctor."

And with that he gave a weak nod before hastily walking away pass the doctor and into the treatment room where Seira had first been rolled into.

It was hard to ignore the fact that she wasn't okay with all the needles sticking out of her left arm, extending to a bunch of IV bags and machines which he barely knew what for. "Man, you never fail to give me trouble, is it?" He dragged a chair next to the empty side of the sleeping brunette as he scratched the back of his head and joked. "Just wake up and say everything's okay as usual..." The redhead sighed before propping his elbow on the bed and resting his face against his knuckle while his other hand rested on top of her abdomen.

If everything had been spilled, all that's left is just to make the best out of it.

* * *

She had never liked going to a hospital ever since she was small, there was always that pungent stench aside from the strong sterile odor covering the whole building.

A smell she had always dubbed as 'the smell of sickness'.

Seira scrunched her nose in disgust as she immediately recognized the unpleasant odor before feeling something foreign sticking out from her left arm and a familiar warmth on her stomach.

Her eyes flickered to life as she adjusted her blurry vision. She could only see a mass of bright red and Reno's head almost instantly fit in place in her mind. "Are you okay?" The newly conscious girl asked as the man in front of her didn't response until she was rubbing her eyes to make sure that she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating of him.

"And look who's talking." A small, sad smile finally touched his face as he felt like he had just woken up from a bad dream. He stood up and lowered his face to her before showering kisses everywhere on her upper body which weren't covered by any kind of cloth.

She started laughing as he kissed lower to her neck and tried to stop him by hugging him in place, much to no avail. "Okay, okay, stop please, I'm here already. What...happened to me?" At that the redhead finally stopped and wrapped his arms around her shoulder in a tight embrace before letting go after breathing her scent in.

Her faint yet sweet scent which pretty much works as a drug for him now.

The Turk sat down on the chair behind him and sighed as he stared at her. She'll know sooner or later and he preferred seeing her reaction alone, so here goes nothing. "You were bleeding when we brought you here-"

"Eh, but I don't remember getting hurt anywhere-"Seira cut him as she immediately panicked and tried to sit up to see where she was injured.

"The doctor said you are pregnant." The pair fell silent as Reno watched his lover's perplexed look as she stop midway at her struggle to push herself up. "You shouldn't wake up first, he said there's nothing dangerous now but you need all the rest you can get."

"What did...the doctor said?"

"You are about 3 weeks pregnant, Sei." The redhead filled in as the girl in front of him stayed still for another moment before weakly shaking her head in denial.

"That's not possible, don't even joke about that, Reno." She laughed nervously and immediately turned her back on him, careful enough not to twist the various types of pipelines attached to her arm.

"Do you need me to make you remember all the juicy details that we did?" He lazily drew random patterns on her back, making her shiver almost instantly. "You really don't want it that bad...our baby?"

"Of course I want it! This should be the best thing that-"Seira had sprang to face the disappointed male behind her but immediately covered her mouth in embarrassment as she realized her voice had been risen pretty high with excitement. "Ah, I mean...I mean...I'm barely twenty now, Reno. What if something wrong happens...what if I did something wrong and-"

"I'll never allow that sort of thing to happen with any of you." He instinctively reached out to her face as the tears started cascading from her jade orbs and down her pale skin.

"But what if-" She started again regardless of her natural movement pressing towards his heat, clinging to his hand on her skin.

"There's no what ifs. You have your parents, Tseng and Elena are having their baby soon and we can watch how they do it. Tifa and Cloud's baby would be around the same age as ours, we can do it together...We're in this together, you know." The Turk moved from his seat to embrace the brunette who was now sitting on the bed and sobbing against his hand.

The couple stayed unmoving as they calmed each other's heartbeat. Reno slightly jumped as he heard the woman in his arms chuckling against his chest, without any warning. "What's so funny?"

Seira finally laughed out loud as she saw the puzzled face of her lover before draping her arms on his shoulder. "I was just wondering...that I've imagined telling my hus-boyfriend about this sort of news but never the other way around...and I just...sorry, I can't imagine you as a father, Reno." She managed to say in between gasps.

"Now, that's mean of you. But whatever you say, I'm still going to be the one and only father of your baby." He moved in to close the distance with his trademark cocky smirk and managed to land a kiss before Seira pushed his mouth away with her hand.

"Wait! Who else knows?"

"Everybody? I'll call them in and the doctor." His muffled words from behind her hand instantly made her face sour. But before she could protest, Reno was already opening the door and announcing her state. She wondered how her parents would react to her state. Well at least she wasn't the one who has to tell them.

* * *

Cloud and the other Turks grew tense as they heard the door pushed open and saw Reno appearing in front of the room, immediately relaxing at the sight of the large grin plastered on his face. "She's awake." He announced as everyone except Kyle stood up and entered the room behind him, each giving different words of congratulation and pats on the back to him.

"I'll go call the doctor first, okay." The redhead excused himself before walking straight towards the solemn man.

Kyle made no move of acknowledging his presence.

"I...love her." He started lamely. "Let us be together...I beg of you!" He added at the end as he bowed deeply in front of the older man.

"Who ever mentioned I was going to separate you guys?" Kyle replied nonchalantly and added at the redhead's lack of response. "I would never let you go after what you've made my daughter go through."

The Turk lifted his head and looked at the brunet with wide eyes of disbelief before bowing his head lower than before, if possible and almost cried out in joy. "Thank you ver-".

"You should be thanking your friends. They were the one who struggled to show me your positive side just now."

"Really...? But I don't think they really need to struggle with that." Reno sprang up to his usual posture and said with a cocky smirk as if he had just regained all of his high self confidence in a mere second.

"Yeah, right." The older male rolled his eyes at his possible future son-in-law's antics but couldn't help but laugh at certain aspects that he just realized were similar to himself when he was younger. "Don't get so cocky, brat. There's still one condition if you really want to be with her."

If he was laughing like that, it wouldn't possibly be something _that_ bad for him...right?

* * *

Even years after their meeting, how they could even be together when they were the exact opposite of each other, he couldn't fathom why. They were practically like Light and dark, good and evil, happy and sad, North and South.

But maybe...he couldn't help approving the logic that it was their opposite ends which attracted them together, their difference which allowed the gears to keep moving.


	16. promise?

_A/N: Another chapter made it through! _

_I want to thank everyone who had been faithfully reading and Dontgotaclue88 who had been regularly reviewing, big hugs for all of you! There's still a handful of people who shows 'Love and Sin' some love by faving them too and I really love you guys for that! It really means a lot to not only me, but every author out there, it shows a lot even if you're too lazy to drop a few words and review :p_

_Lastly, I just started a blog (two in fact!) since I'm going to be jobless for the next 3 months before uni starts for me. So check it out in my profile, follow, comment or just ignore the whole author's note and R&R!_

_Enjoy! _

* * *

"They had been planning to take her from right under our nose?_!_" Reno couldn't help but raise his voice as his superior announced the initial investigation results to the whole room from his position near the foot of his lover's bed, not surprising anyone except for Seira's family who wasn't used to his sudden outbursts.

"Yes, Reno. The house was already empty when they abducted Seira, the employees said that they were specifically assigned to a vacation on that day. And if they were able to take Cloud and sneak into Edge it's clear that they know how related the Turk's were to this case." The raven haired man explained nonchalantly.

"What about the butler, Ren?" Seira who was slouching against the hospital's bed post and some pillows chimed in. She remembered locking her prison's door behind her if her memories were right. And judging from him being the only one remaining in the mansion, it wasn't a surprise if he knew a lot about what his sick employer was planning.

"About him, he was nowhere to be found when we came back. Very little data was available on his past, even the staffs never knew when and where he came from. But a retired, old gardener who was there when he first came said that his real name was Sui and Fujitsu Kino brought him back after a business trip from the Eastern continent, most probably Midgar."

"Sui...Ren. Water lilies?" The brunette muttered hesitantly, if the butler loved flowers that much, it explained the ludicrously vast field of roses in that house and why he chose to bring her there before knocking her out. But bragging was quite a shallow motive.

"Ck, what kind of parent gives their son such a pussy name? Serves the coward." Reno remarked snidely as he silently snarled at his own rhetorical question. He should know the answer better than anyone else after all.

He should know better that Ren' original name probably came from some old, drunk, illiterate bum on some alley who decided to call him Sui since he looked feminine enough.

"Judging from the lack of any records on him and how easily he was transported to the other side of the planet, we can safely assume that he was from the slums." Tseng supplied with his usual all-business tone and a tight frown adoring his temple, knowing that his second in command must've realized it by himself-coming from the same place and all.

"Tseng." The other raven haired man called out from his place with his family on the living room-like area on the other side of the bed where Reno stood. "I think even you must've realized that their plan was too well organized for all of the mistakes that they've done. It's almost like." He paused for a moment, trying to piece the exact word to describe the bad aftertaste this series of unfortunate events had left in his mouth. "They were confident enough that we couldn't stop them from getting what they wanted and getting away with it. It's ridiculous if they were just being careless after everything that they've done."

"I understand what you're saying, Recca. We're still investigating about them. If they still have anything up their sleeves or-"

"This is not the end. Am I right?" The sick girl interjected them as she herself grew anxious with all the speculations which never seemed to end and no solid evidence about the real fact behind this entire nightmare at all. "So do we have anything on them?" She inquired after Tseng's grim nod.

"Cloud's got one theory and we've found little evidence on the possibility from the mansion, but it's the closest we have right now."

"They took my blood." Cloud who had been sitting on the single seated sofa perpendicular to the end of the other couches finally provided after Tseng's silence which he didn't take as a cue for him to start talking at first. "Which could only mean that Jenova has a connection with everything that had happened at one point or another. They took your blood too, right, Sei? I don't think that they'll take all the trouble bringing you to Wutai if there wasn't anything special in yours. And with your powers, I can only assume that you have some kind of relation with the ancients."

"Ancients?" She repeated dumbly after what seemed like the longest dialogue that the bishie had ever spoken in front of her.

"Another name for the Cetra." The blonde replied briefly as usual.

"Cetra...like Aerith?" She asked softly, as if she was treading on a taboo subject. And Cloud couldn't help but let the corner of his lips tugged upward.

Reno was really a lucky man to get a girl like her (No one beats his dearest Tifa, though).

"Yes, Seira. You may have the same bloodline as Aerith."

"But that's impossible!" Reno recognized the look of bewilderment on the brunette's face. She was really caught off guard and he hoped that this would make her less surprised at what he was going to ask her just in another moment.

"Why not? You can use magic without any materia and that's one proof that you have a link with the Lifestream." He countered nonchalantly.

"Isn't Aerith the last?"

"We can never really know. They even said that regular humans used to be Cetra."

"Then why me? That means my father and uncle should be a cetra too and I'm not even a full Cetra to begin with."

"We had found some information on that." Tseng was the one who answered this time, while Cloud stayed silent, finally admitting defeat to her wits. "We found some copied data from Cosmo Canyon in the suspect's office which they had analyzed in great detail and some of them contained information about the last two Cetra being females."

"Cosmo Canyon?" Seira narrowed her eyes at the new party being thrown in their never ending predicament.

"Yes, it seems like they were involved with the intruder who was earlier detected in Cosmo Canyon."

"How do they manage to be everywhere?" She retorted with disgust evident on her face before visibly flinching at Reno's sudden assault on her hair.

"You don't have to worry, now that we've blown our cover, we'll find them using any means possible." The redhead said as he gently ruffled his lover's head before dropping his voice and adding. "So I want you to go home and don't come back till we've catch them."

"Stop messing wi-what?" The brunette who was pulling at his bigger hand on top of her head immediately froze. "What did you just say?"

"Go back to your planet and don't come back here until we catch them." He elaborated, watching at her unchanging face. He wondered how her face would look like if they were in private.

"Wha-" Everyone watched as she opened and closed her mouth like a fish left in the open air and they couldn't help but be amused at how often the couple was already creating awkward atmospheres like a pair of newlyweds.

"What about Cloud and Tifa's wedding?" She finally managed a respond with a smug feeling of satisfaction before it was quickly countered by the Turk.

"Of course you can come. All of the Turks will be there and we're tightening the security during the ceremony."

"What about y-"

"Visiting hour ends in five minutes." A female's muffled voice rang from the hallway throughout the whole room.

And the silent stretched.

"We should be going then. We'll pick you up tomorrow morning... Sleep well, dear." Reina announced as she stood up before giving her somewhat disheveled daughter a hug and kiss on the temple.

"See you tomorrow." The youngest female somehow managed a smile before parting with everyone in the room with small kisses here and big hugs there.

"You're on duty tonight, Reno." Tseng warned as he closed the door behind him and the couple was left alone again.

"Don't forget to close the lights." The brunette indifferently said after bringing her pillow down and dusting it into flatness before resting her head against it and lying on her side, facing her back towards the male.

"Right away, ma'am." He saluted jokingly and did as instructed before climbing into bed behind her.

"Go away, sleep on the couch or something." She swatted his hands before it had even reached her.

"Aaw, c'mon, babe. You're going to be that mean to me, seriously?" The redhead whined before gently tugging at the back of her hospital gown at the lack of response. "Fine, I'll be keeping the good news to myself."

Seira who had closed her eyes and feigned sleep immediately felt the bed bounced back at the lack of weight and heard the noise of rustling clothes for a long moment. It wasn't for another good minute after silence took over that she dared to reveal her green orbs.

And she found Reno's aquamarine orbs staring right back at her, his lanky form awkwardly folded to fit on one of the longer couch and she had to suppress the great urge to immediately invite him to her side. "How will we meet if I go back?" She said in a hushed voice, as if afraid of waking him up.

Reno stayed unmoving as he watched the still, pale woman sleeping in front of her. He himself couldn't move, couldn't take his eyes off her or even blink due to the fear of watching her disappear into thin air, forever lost or hurt in any way again. But the look on her face when she opened her innocent eyes snapped him out of his trance. The look of pure...distress etched on her slender form disturbed him to the depths of his heart that he never thought was even able to feel again. "I...I don't know... but it's better than letting those freaks on you again."

If working for Shinra had taught him anything, it would be the fact that dying was a better option than letting any of those sickly scientist anywhere near him. Just a little interest they lay on you and the first and last place you'd be was under their needle and scalpels. The Turk clenched his fist at the memory of all the cleanups and dirty jobs they had to do for the labs, most of the time, Hojo.

"Re...the bed's cold." The brunette whispered as she snuggled into the thin, white blanket and hid her flushed face under them. She couldn't help but cave in after his short, protective monologue and those confused, puppy eyes avoiding her. Who wouldn't, really? This was Reno she was talking about, the perfect embodiment of her type of guy that she could ever imagine existing in real life.

And having him as a faithful lover...she felt like the happiest woman alive, despite all the mess happening around her.

"I'm coming, princess." He couldn't help but show his trademark cocky smirk at his lover's timid invitation before going to the other side of the bed without the IV pole and joining her.

"What's the good news then?" She wriggled back as they adjusted their position against each other. The redhead rested one arm atop her thin-hospital-gown-clad side while Seira hugged the other which served as a pillow under her head.

"I asked your dad about us and he gave us the green light."

"About damn time." Seira said as she stifled a yawn.

"I know, right. Now sleep, you need all the rest you can get." He bent his arm up and moved his hand to caress her cheek after pressing his lips against the smooth surface.

"No, I can sleep later. Let's just talk for now. We won't be meeting for god knows how long, Reno." She resisted the immediate affect his hands gave to her fading conscious as she spoke but couldn't help but let out another yawn.

"No can do, doctor's direct order. The search won't take that long and after all this is done, I'll fly you myself to Costa Del Sol, we can have a vacation. I promise."

"Promise...? I can't believe there's another life inside me...Reno." Seira slurred as she fought her own battle with her drooping eye lids.

"And I'm going to be a father, who would've imagined that." He said with a hushed chuckle before taking note of his lover's even breathing. "Everything's going to be okay now. I promise."


	17. Proposal

_A/N: Shout outs to Dontgotaclue88! And everyone who's still reading of course, do this old author a favor and drop some words, kay!_

_Oh, and follow my blog and Tumblr that I just made. Links are on my profile._

_R&R_

* * *

The old church in sector 5 had been renovated to an antique building suitable for a wedding. Everything was repaired or changed depending on its condition except for the area behind the pond, the pond itself and the partly missing wall and roof which let the bright sunlight in. Cloud and Tifa had somehow made it like a garden wedding except for the guests sitting indoors.

"She's so beautiful today." Seira said in a hushed voice to the owner of the chest she was leaning her head on. She watched dearly at the busty woman in white walking down the aisle in arm with a burly, heavily tanned conspicuous man wearing a prosthetic right arm, Barret.

Cloud and Tifa's wedding had been postponed by three weeks after the abduction incident and for the same period, the now inseparable couple hadn't met. It was a wonder -even to them- that they still couldn't stand the void after those long periods of absence in each other's life in the past, they had once somehow managed for six months, but the moment they met again made it clear to them that the last 21 days had been more torturous than the last time it had been.

"You're going to be next." Reno who had an arm around the brunette's bare shoulders while his other hand played with her smaller one atop his lap replied unexpectedly that his lover moved away from his torso to look at him properly.

"Pardon me?" The woman who was wearing a midnight blue, knee length dress which loosely hugged her curves inquired with a genuinely puzzled face that made Reno couldn't help but smirk in anticipation of her next reaction.

The redhead wasn't surprised if she would cry at what he was going to do next. "You and I are going to get married next." His smile turned into a grin as he watched her gape at his hand which pulled out a shiny object from his pocket and easily slipped it on her left ring finger.

Seira stared at the ring which fitted perfectly on her lean digit for a good five seconds. The generous sized diamond had clusters of smaller sapphire gems around it and was held by a white golden band which seemed to curve around the stones.

She looked at the Turk with a perplexed look and looked down at her left hand which was still held by him once more before beaming at him. "Was that just now a proposal question?" The brunette asked, somehow still able to keep her voice at check while her eyes were suddenly brimming with tears at the intense feeling of happiness that was bubbling in her.

It was the male's turn to give her a puzzled look before he managed to think of a comeback. "Hehhhh? Of course it's not, it's a proposal state-"

"I'll take that as a question. And of course the answer is yes, you don't even have to ask!" She managed to suppress her exited voice again and screamed a whisper before throwing her arms around his neck and attacking his mouth, almost knocking him out of his seat if Rude who was sitting on his other side haven't held him in place with his larger body.

They could immediately feel the stare from the masses sitting on the pews behind them, including her family's, which Reno automatically ignored and the brunette shushing them with a wave, flaunting off her left hand which wasn't as bare as before.

And the reaction was almost immediate; their murmurs were replaced by sets of gasps which she didn't know was due to the sight of her engagement ring or the couple who finally said their vows in front of the altar.

But nothing mattered right now. She wouldn't bother as long as the man she loved, the redhead who was in her arm wouldn't stop kissing her.

* * *

It wasn't before a lengthy lecture from her father about public appearance at the previous commotion they had caused that they were able to meet Tifa and Cloud.

"Congratulations!" Seira gave the newlywed each a shy hug, careful enough not to rumple their formal attires.

"Congratulations to both of you too. Honestly, Reno. I heard that you were going to propose but I never thought it was going to be during the ceremony." The married brunette folded her arm in front of her chest in an annoyed stance and chided gently. Her smile betraying the whole scolding tone she was using.

"Sorry, sorry. It wasn't really planned, the chance was just there, so why not." Reno laughed apologetically with a stupid grin plastered on his face. He had pretty much predicted this outcome since his father in law had proposed the condition of a legal marriage to gain his blessings two weeks ago. But the intensity of her reaction, the tackling (includes passionate kiss) he never knew she could do in front of an audience, let alone a huge crowd of spectators and the bright smile which never left her face until now was still affecting him.

"We're sorry about the commotion, Tifa." The engaged brunette apologized as sincere as the big smile plastered on her face would allow. She knew she had been smiling like an idiot since the proposal, even throughout her father's scolding, but her lips just wouldn't relax after all her attempt of stretching or massaging her now sore cheeks with her own hands. "Wait, am I the only one who didn't know this?"

Tifa held back a laugh at the other pregnant woman whose expression wasn't matching her words. The serious tone and fully stretched lips weren't exactly a match and kind of made her look stupid, but she should know better how Seira was feeling now. She herself had been in that position months ago and it took her hours to finally stop smiling, not to mention another hour it took whenever she remembered the event again. She hoped she didn't look this obvious back then. "Considering that Rude and Elena knew, there's a tiny chance of that not happening. You guys are forgiven, since you gave entertainment to the guests at the boring part of the wedding."

Seira could understand Elena being the gossiping type but Rude? "Rude?" She asked incredulously, still stuck with the goofy smile which elicited another wave of laughter from the bride.

"Rude's not as quiet as you think." Cloud who never left Tifa's side suddenly spoke, reminding the trio that he was still there and not lost amongst the crowd.

"Yeah, he doesn't speak much but still blabbers." The redhead added before spluttering at a hard smack against his back. "The hell!_?_"

"Hey, kids! Wasn't expecting that kind of shit coming from you, Seira!" The blonde pilot hollered with a rowdy laugh at the pair while delivering a few more firm smacks against Reno's back.

The brunette immediately blushed and looked away, muttering a soft sorry before hiding her stiff jaw while Reno slapped the offending hand away and glared at the older pilot. "That hurts man!"

"That's a compliment for you, numbskulls!" Cid raised his hands playfully in an attempt to deliver one last strike as Reno immediately shielded himself with both arms crossed in front of his face. "Anyways, Cloud, Tifa, you guys should really learn from these two." He elaborated with a loud laugh at the couple's inquiring gaze. "I mean, c'mon, you've known each other since forever and they've only met for, what? A year? And you girls got knocked up at the same time."

The said girls' immediately gave him a disgusted look.

"Obviously, you're talking about Reno of the-" Seira frowned as she elbowed her lover's gut before he could finish his upcoming narcissist remark, fully aware of his usual catchphrase.

"You're one to talk, Cid. We're still younger than you were when you got married." Cloud said with a serious tone that made everyone laughed except for Cid who decided to throw his infamous 'bleeped' cussing before marching away to his wife's side.

* * *

Reno sighed in exasperation for the umpteenth time that day as he walked home, feeling the familiar sensation of being watched when the hair at the back of his neck rise at the invisible gaze directed at him, like cold metal creeping up his shoulders to his scalp. "Becoming quite desperate all of the sudden, huh?" He muttered as he entered the highly secured building without bothering to look back.

The mansion in Wutai was almost immaculate without any traces of what they'd been doing illegally. It left them with the task of investigating all the property under any of their names, which was extremely time consuming and...Basically a royal pain in the ass, considering that results haven't showed up even after one full month.

He would be the bait to lure those bastards out if that was needed to let them show themselves and end everything. The redhead didn't care on his brash behavior, he survived years as a Turk with it after all and who wouldn't be in a hurry with a pregnant fiancé waiting at home.

The thought alone was enough to make him smirk. Long distance relationship certainly sucks, he would give everything he could to bring her beside him tonight.

From drugs to sex addicts, he had experienced them at one point or another in his past and somehow managed to get through due to his ironically, degrading job. He never knew he was going to live this long back when he first joined the Turks. He had always assumed his life would end as a Turk, on one of their shady missions given by the strongest company in the world, but not after everything that had happened now. Who would've guessed things would turn the way it was ever since Genesis went rogue.

"Reno." The said man caught a hand before it was able to land on his shoulder and immediately twisted it back, not forgetting to point his EMR at the invader's throat.

"Easy, it's me, Reno." The wutaian man had instantly relaxed as he felt Reno's hand shot out and grabbed his, knowing that fighting would just further trigger the Turk's reflexes and add the pain he would feel later.

"Oh, fuck. Sorry, Recca." The redhead immediately released his hold on the older male's wrist when he recognized the deep voice and the old, Tseng-like appearance of the man's back. He didn't realize he had been on alert since he felt someone watching him this morning. It just came naturally, he guessed.

"You okay? Why are you so tensed?" The older male asked with concern in his voice as he rolled both of his shoulders and slightly winced at the dull pain. "Anything new with the investigation?"

"Nah, nothing new. Someone's been following me since morning, just hope it's them getting desperate with Seira missing. "He shrugged before perking up at his companion's presence, silently hoping that he brought his niece along."Anyways, what are you doing here?"

"You're coming home with me. Seira is crying for you."

"Huh?" Reno felt his wrist being grabbed in a painfully vice grip before all of a sudden finding himself in an unfamiliar living room before he could even protest. "What the-"

"Her room's up, on the right." The scarred man released his hand and said, not bothering another word as he walked out of the room.

"Wait-"

"I brought you here, since she can't be there. Don't worry, I'll return you tomorrow, bye." The redhead stood dumbly as the door was shut and locked. He was going to ask why he was going outside, but whatever.

The room he was in looked like a standard living room; couches gathering around a black, semi translucent coffee table, TV and tables with various framed pictures on each empty corners of the room.

He couldn't help but laugh as he browsed at the pictures which had Sei in almost all of it. There were photos starting from her days as an infant, toddler with short hair, toddler with pigtails, first day of schools and many other occasions that he couldn't even name.

The Turk smiled as he remembered the matter at hand and climbed the stairs without further ado. Their childhoods were the exact opposite, yet they still met and went through everything. He never really held a strong outlook on fate and stuffs like that, but it sure had a funny way of playing.

Reno's mind just couldn't wrap at the idea of Seira crying for him. Yet it was the site that greeted him when he opened the only door to the right side of the stairs. Seira was drying her tears against the pillow under her face, clutching at the puffy looking cushion for dear life till her knuckles were white.

It made him realize the fact that he never expected this part of his life to happen to him, never knew that he was capable or even allowed to get down to this stage of life where he'd settled down. He got a home now, a home for himself and not the Turks.

"Sei?" The said woman looked up and stared at him with her bloodshot and slightly swollen eyes, blinking several times as if she wasn't sure if she was finally sleeping and dreaming or the man in front of her was actually real.

"Miss me that much?" The redhead sat on the edge of her single bed with a stupid grin plastered on his face and said again as no response came from her.

It wasn't after a long minute of staring that Seira sat up and gently pressed both of her palms against his smooth cheeks, moving her thumb in a caressing motion at the twin tattoo under his eyes, before pinching and pulling at the thin skin with all the force her dazed senses could ever muster.

"Oow, what was that for?" He pulled her hands away before guiding it back to rub at the sore spots on his face.

"You're real!" She cried out as she wrapped her arms around his chest, taking in the slight tangy scent of sweat and cigarettes from his white dress shirt.

"Of course I'm real, princess. Or I won't be able to do this." He tightly wrapped his arms tightly around her upper torso, eliciting a strangled protest. "This." He continued with a kiss against her temple. "Or thisss." He said again, while pulling the shell of her ear with his thumb and forefinger, hard enough to pull her away from him but not enough to really cause pain.

"Oww, Okay, okay, I'm sorry." She made to move forward again but was stop by Reno who moved in to the bed and slumped against the bed's headboard before patting at his chest invitingly.

"Where were you from? Haven't even took a bath?"

"Oh shit, I forgot." He immediately lifted the brunette who had snuggled against him again nevertheless of her complain and hastily removed and tossed his work uniform on the floor. "I was working late. Recca caught me right in front of the front door. Do I smell that much?"

"No, its okay. You don't smell that bad. I know you just wanna get naked on my bed." Seira rolled her eyes while she wrapped her arms around him again, tracing imaginary circles and occasional scars on his otherwise chiseled chest.

"Ooh, we can have fun tonight. I heard you were crying for me." The redhead taunted with a finger trailing down against her clothed arms.

"It was the hormones talking and no, my parents are next door."

"Eew, Sei. What were you thinking? I was just wondering what kind of game you would have here." The brunette could feel the vibration rippling through his chest as he chuckled.

"Can you just shut up for awhile?" She lifted her hand and brought it down in a tight slap to his bare skin in protest before further relaxing at the promises of sleep on his arm. "I miss you."

"I know I'm just that loveable, right?" He chuckled again, sending more vibrations against her cheek as he moved to wrap his arms around her protectively.

"Unfortunately, yes. We miss you that much." Reno could feel her smile against his skin and grinned against the top of her head in return.

"How's both of you doing? Still feeling sick?"

"No, thank god I'm past that stage."

* * *

A knock on the door resounded loudly throughout her room, snapping the brunette out of her trance in front of her laptop. It was a sunny Sunday and all she wanted to do was relax in her room all day.

She took a moment to make sure she was presentable before moving in to open the door, knowing that it wouldn't be someone she used to see at home since no one usually bothered to knock before entering.

"Elena!" Seira immediately jumped and hugged the now slim female as she recognized the owner of the shocking blond locks before growing wary at her presence in _her_ house. "What are you doing here?" She still managed a smile and asked.

The blonde greeted with a small smile which seemed to invade her troubled features. "Hello, Seira." She didn't speak again until both of them were seated on her single bed.

"We lost him."

And the sinking feeling that had harbored in her heart since the female Turk showed up and held her hand without her usual cheery disposition immediately dropped like a ton of brick thrown from a tall building. "Lost who, Elena?" She still asked despite the tears which had sprung from her jade orbs.

Call it gut feeling, female instinct or lover's intuition, the brunette didn't need to give any effort to know her friend wasn't talking about the villains they were supposed to be catching.

"They were sweeping the area when their chopper got hit. We found Rude near the scene but he wasn't anywhere." Elena spoke after a long pause and an audible gulp she made to keep herself in check, mentally face palming for blurting it all out in one go."The search teams are still searching. We'll certainly find him, Sei."

"Re-" Seira was caught off guard as she choked at her own words, coughing heavily before she was able to force her suddenly stiff jaws to move. "Reno?" Her voice came out just above a whimper, much to her chagrin.

The blonde nodded slowly as if it would help the other female wrap her head around the problem.

"How is he, Elena?" The brunette's cries were getting louder as watching her companion's pursed lips and glossy eyes weren't helping a tad bit. She couldn't think properly at the moment, the thought of not being able to meet him was the only thing clouding her head and nothing else seemed to cross her mind.

"We're still searching for him, Seira." Elena repeated, more slowly to let the news sink to the pregnant woman. She swore she never hated Tseng before he gave him this task.

And the brunette cried freely, unable to right herself as she gripped the blue sheets under her hands and chanted her lover's name in between uncontainable gasps and cries. "He's alive, he must be, Elena!" She screamed, immediately eliciting more moisture on the blonde's eyes.

Elena glanced at the slightly ajar door for help, knowing that everyone was watching as she rubbed at her friend's back in a comforting, rocking motion. But her hands were repelled by an invisible force before anyone could silently slip into the room.

And seira was gone into thin air before she could even react.

"That stupid girl! How many times should I tell her she shouldn't use her powers in that condition?" The door was tore open with a roar as the foreign wutaian man rushed in and disappeared in tow.


	18. Revelation

_A/N:_ _It's finally December! I can't wait for the new FF7 Turk novel which is coming out! Pray that someone translates it immediately after publish._

_Shout outs to Dontgotaclue88, my fateful reviewer and the others who added this story to their favorite and alert list! And my dear readers too of course!_

_R&R_

* * *

The Shinra branded aircraft flew low through the grassland area under Kalm, circling the empty area and the town like a hawk sensing its prey nearby.

"Yo, Rude." The pilot glanced to his side to make sure that his partner wasn't asleep, instead of waiting for a response which he knew would never come. "Can you do me a favor?"

"No." The silent Turk immediately replied this time, feigning ignorance by looking at the greenery below them, through the chopper's window they were in. Reno was known for his fondness on skipping all formalities, rarely asking when he wanted anything and all his _requests_ for him through their Turk days so far were generally either selfish, stupid, life-threatening, or all of them combined. He didn't want to know what kind of task the redhead had in mind which had actually made him consider asking first.

"I promised Seira I'll take her to the beach when everything's over." Reno ignored his companion's refusal and said nonetheless.

The noise of the rotor blades beating the air settled between them instead of the usual silence. And the usually restless Turk was going to let it be, when the other Turk finally opened his mouth again. "Take her by yourself."

"Of course!" Reno broke into a grin at Rude's typical sporadic dialogues whenever he was concerned before adding with a grimmer tone. "I'm just saying, in case anything happens." He knew he didn't need to further elaborate for his partner to understand.

It was true that another month had passed since the first time he had felt someone following him and nothing eventful had happened so far. But that was mainly because the other party had been extremely careful, showing up without any definite pattern which made it difficult for the Turks to track them. It was almost as if they were taunting them, showing up whenever they like just to let them know that they were still alive like some sort of parasite.

"Nothing will happen."

"You're damn right! Nothing will really happen if-" As if on cue, disaster struck, literally. Reno and Rude lurched forward as the chopper rocked. "What the-"

The redhead's hands were immediately in a flurry of movements, one flicking at the switches above his head while the other struggled to control the cyclic which was previously held loosely in his hand as the alarms started blaring warningly. Rude was already out of his seat and pushing the passenger's door open sideways to check on any visible threats, one hand occupied with a loaded gun.

"This is bad, they got us for good! Jump, Rude!" The silent Turk who was leaning out and concentrating on the empty field, ignoring the blazing fire right next to his head felt, rather than heard as his partner pushed past him, inevitably throwing him out of the aircraft as well.

The duo's cries were cut short into a yelp as they landed in a heap on the grass-cushioned ground. Rude being the unfortunate as per usual fell on his side and felt the added brunt of his companion's weight on top of him as he felt his head being struck by a small rock planted on the soft ground.

"What the fuck just happened?" Reno swore as he stood up and instinctively dusted his soiled jacket with his hands, not realizing the other Turk's lack of attempt to join him before the sight of their crashed mean of transportation ahead of them exploded and snapped him out of his daze. "Shit, Rude!" He immediately went down again and laid the out cold man on his back.

The redhead didn't know if he should sigh in relieve or feel guilty at his partner's bloodied head and dislocated looking shoulder while he was practically unscathed, save for some bruises which he could already feel forming under his clothes. But his thoughts were cut short as he felt a prick on his neck.

Reno slapped his hand against the irritable pain as if an insect had bit him before freezing as his hand were unexpectedly met by a flechette which -much to his horror-reminded him too much of a tranquilizer dart.

He lunged for Rude's gun which was still securely gripped in the unconscious Turk's hand and produced his own EMR as his head darted to the general direction the projectile in his hand had came from, in search of the sniper.

If SOLDIERs were highly immune to sedatives thanks to their Mako infusions, the Turks were also immune to them due to the manual training they had undergone. But despite the added effort, it was obvious that the latter had slightly less resistant to it since it wasn't from their genes.

The redhead shielded his eyes from the setting sun and ran in a zigzag pattern towards the shadow of his assailant, avoiding any projectiles that may fly his way and hoping that Rude weren't their target of interest.

But regardless of his efforts, two more darts managed to land straight at his right thigh this time. It didn't took the medicine long to immobilize his legs and he stumbled forward and rolled a few times before landing on his stomach.

Reno cursed at the burning sensation spreading through his body, followed by the numbness which rendered him useless but didn't give up before emptying a few rounds of the gun in his trembling right hand to the shadow ahead which he wasn't even sure was the sniper.

He could barely feel the recoil of the revolver in his hand or the grass under him cutting at his face anymore when darkness invaded his vision and released him from any fleeting thoughts about a certain brunette which entered his mind.

* * *

Seira looked up and wiped her eyes with her forearms when she found the back of her hands were already too wet to remove any of her tears, weakly coughing at the saline liquid which managed to escape to her mouth. It took her awhile to notice the abrupt change in her surroundings and the absence of Elena's comforting arms around her.

Reno's room was dark, the only source of illumination coming from the dim moonlight which escaped through the curtained window on the wall beside the bed she was sitting at. And the brunette sobbed even harder as she crawled to the center of the bed and curled into a fetal position after taking one of the pillows into her arms.

Her nose immediately picked up the scent of Reno's shampoo as if she was hugging the redhead's head to her chest himself. "Re..." She instantly regretted calling out his name as she felt her whole being shook and another fresh wave of tears escaped to the clean, white sheets underneath her.

Seira hugged the already flat pillow tighter with her trembling hands and shivered as she cried herself to the sweet escape of her dreamlands.

* * *

Soft murmurs outside the room gently shook her awake from her dreamless slumber. Seira deliberately stirred to her aching back before opening her heavy eyelids, slightly flinching as the thin skin refused to part as if they were glued. She stared wearily at the now familiar ceiling, adjusting her vision as she opened and closed her eyes without hurry.

The faint conversation that her ears barely caught almost lulled her back to sleep before she realized that the house should've been empty.

The brunette sprang to life and was up on her feet in record's time as she noticed the thin line of light which escaped from the gap under the door.

"Re-" The pair who had just pause their conversation jumped as the door behind them was yanked open with such force they never knew the disoriented looking woman had.

"Seira." Recca started warningly, ready with a long lecture on her previous rash action but immediately stopped when he saw his niece's disillusioned face at the sight of him and Rude in front of her.

"Oh." She merely vocalized, ignoring her hoarse voice and let her face visibly fall before retreating back to her private haven, not even noticing the other man who was bandaged and wearing an incomplete Turk's uniform as she could already feel her moist eyes brimming with tears again.

"I know how you feel, Sei. But you have to stay strong-"

"Don't talk as if he's dead!" Seira, who by now had pressed her face against another clean and dry pillow to let her dripping eyes dry itself retorted as best as her jammed throat allowed.

"Then stop acting as if he's dead!" The raven haired man countered, annoyance evident in his voice.

"No I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"It's the hormones!"

"Stop blaming everything on the hormones."

"But it is, I'm pregnant, remember!" She finally turned around and directly cried to her uncle's face, heavily panting with raw emotions as if she had just finished a marathon.

The silent stretched uncomfortably.

"Sorry." And the relatives finally sighed and apologized in unison, earning a small smile from both of them.

Rude who had been waiting behind the door which had been left ajar finally announced his presence with a short cough, immediately gaining the duo's attention. And it took the female a moment to identify the man as her friend, the silent Turk without shades.

"Rude?" The brunette squinted as if it could help her get use to the peculiar site of the man's visible brown orbs." Rude?" She repeated louder upon noticing the state he was in.

The silent Turk's bald head was wrapped with clean, white bandages and she could see that his buff chest and left arm were at the same state at the absence of his Turk jacket.

"Rude!" Seira said even louder this time, concern finally evident in her voice. "What ha-you were in the crash too." She said in a matter-of-fact tone before adding weakly. "What happened?"

"The tail of our chopper got hit so we had an emergency landing..." Rude elaborated shortly and decided to leave the detail of their jump as the brunette chewed her bottom lip and clenched her fist by her side despite her unchanging face. He hastily added at his partner's lover's apparent distress. "I lost consciousness soon after we landed, but I'm pretty sure Reno wasn't injured."

"What about your injuries?" The silent Turk shifted his weight to his other foot uncomfortably as if his wounds tingled at the mere mention. And she wondered why he opted to cover those kind eyes with sunglasses. Was it a Turk thing? But it never stopped Reno from looking like an idiot most of the time.

"It's nothing serious. You better go home." He answered briefly and suggested awkwardly, trying his best not to sound harsh.

"No, I'll stay here and help your search." She responded bluntly without any hesitation and thought that she heard a sigh of exasperation as the sound was lost in Rude's strangled grunt and Recca's immediate protest.

"Don't be stupid, you're most probably their target. You're going home with me, like it or not!" The wutainese marched towards the bed and stopped before he could reach out as his niece didn't move but straightened her back and stared at him challengingly.

"And that's exactly why I'm staying here. They'll show up and contact me sooner or later if I'm really their target. Tell me how you're going to catch them if they don't show up? I haven't even heard any of you guys coming close to them since we left Wutai two months ago!" She was sure that someone sighed again this time, without any objections from Rude or Recca this time. Was someone else outside?

"She is the target. We've just found a ransom note near the crash site. But I don't think you can change her mind." The smooth voice came from behind the door before another raven haired man entered the room. "Rufus had predicted this and asked you to stay in healen. It'll be easier to guard you there."

"Seriously?" She wondered how people just managed to pop out of nowhere these days and shrugged it off as another Turk thing.

"Tseng!" The older man glared warningly at the astonished brunette before turning his attention to the said man who had just appeared. "We should keep her away! Not keep her reachable to the enemy. I know Reno's in danger but-"

"You're invited as well."

"Wha-"

"With Reno held captive, we're greatly short on manpower and it'll be easier to get consent to let Seira stay if you're here as well."

Recca pinched the bridge of his nose as if it could stop the headache which was already brewing in his head before sighing in resignation. "I'll help you in any way I can even if she's not staying here."

"I don't need anyone's consent to stay here. For god's sake, I'm not a minor anymore!" Seira frowned as she slammed her hand against the soft mattress she was still sitting at before adding in exasperation. "If it's my father you're worried about, I'll make sure that he won't be in the way. I'm not a little girl anymore."

* * *

Reno stayed still as he was gently pulled awake from his drugged slumber. He couldn't feel anything except his steady respiration for a long moment before his nostrils flared at the overpowering sterile scent which made his eyes water and the predicament of his position refreshed his memories.

The redhead immediately froze as he felt that his hands were suspended beside each side of his head by some sort of shackles while his legs were squashed under his weight in an uncomfortable manner, shackled as well.

He made sure that he could sense no one near him before opening a slit of his eyes, in case his senses were still dulled by some of the sedatives left in his system.

The sealed room he was in was painted deep red and dark, save for a single sorry excuse of a fluorescent tube which flickered uncertainly above him. But it didn't take much for him to catch glimpses of tools which lined the walls around him.

Rows of weapons and torturing devices which he didn't know even existed anymore aligned the wall around him. There were knives of unique sizes and blades, machetes, whips with various ends and ornamental handles, clubs which looks more like a mace with different rusting spikes, those old Wutainese fingers squeezer and he could even swear he saw an iron maiden at the corner of his eyes.

After enough recon as much as his tied state allowed, Reno finally tugged at his hands experimentally. The chains which extended from his cuffs to the ceiling above his head rattled for a moment before he pulled his hands down with enough force that he was sure could break through wood or fracture concrete.

The redhead concentrated and hummed a low battle cry to will away the pain as the metal edges cut through his wrists that he didn't realize the footsteps proceeding towards his confinement.

"Don't waste your breath. Even SOLDIERs can't break that." His low groan was cut short as he jerked his head up at the sudden voice, slightly panting after the futile tug-of-war against his restraints and stood up, noticing that his legs were also chained to the floor.

"Tch, what do you want?" Reno snarled at the man which he instantly recognized through Seira's description instead of an old picture of him that he had seen in Shinra's record. Fujitsu Kino wasn't the man he used to be anymore. Unlike the pale, slim-still in a healthy way-and intelligent looking man that he had seen in Shinra's old database, now his skin was almost translucent with clear, dark vein's indicating that there were still some skin covering bones and little flesh.

"Oh, nothing much from you." The older man answered coolly as he walked towards his hostage who sprang up to his feet, not willing to give his captor the satisfaction of looking down upon him. "You're nothing more than bait but since you'd become more of a hindrance to my plan than what I'd expected. A punishment is due, I suppose."

"Don't-you-dare-touch-her!" The Turk growled and emphasized each word with a rattle of his chains as he pounced forward and strained against it, just to find that his legs were bound to the floor with a shorter chain that only allowed him about two steps forward.

"Well that depends on how cooperative she will be. I certainly hope she didn't inherit Rayne's stubbornness. It's really regrettable if such a sweet girl should meet the same fate as her grandfather."

The redhead felt his blood further rush to his head at the mention of the dead doctor, even though he had known all along that the man in front of him was gramps murderer. But the bluntness of his indirect confession ticked something inside him.

"Oh, and of course how much she values your life will be a factor on how the whole plan goes too." The doctor quickly added before Reno was able to open his mouth.

"You sick bastard just never learn when to give up is it! What do you guys want now, another Sephiroth running loose? Or his fucking remnants for your private army and bring another world domination chaos-" His retort was cut short by the back of a bony hand colliding with his cheek. His neck snapped to his left at the force but all the pain was dulled by adrenaline pumping through his blood as his excitement peaked.

"Don't you dare compare me with them. Not Kilmister, Hollander or even Hojo as much as I admit his intelligence." The old Wutainese said through gritted teeth, breathing ragged and trembling with rage as he suppressed the urge to clutch at his painfully beating heart and let his hand twitched instead.

Reno smirked triumphantly at his successful provocation. "What's the difference? You guys use people's body to fulfill your own curiosity, experiments and shit using the name of science. We Turks kill and torture but we never use their bodies." He drawled with confidence this time.

Kino mirrored his hostage's smirk after some time. And Reno felt his own falter for a moment when his captor walked back to pull a lever which he hadn't noticed sticking out of the wall beside the door. "You should be grateful that I'm nothing like them or you'll be screaming instead of talking to me right now."

The Wutainese didn't try to hide his amusement as he watched the Turk struggle with the chains above him which groaned at the weight as it tightened and pulled him up until what was holding him to the ground was only the short length of metal which was strapped to the shackles on his legs and the floor.

"She'll never come! The Turks are with her, do you think they're that stupid to even let her enter the planet again!" The redhead was losing his cool inside, but he didn't show it and glared instead. Trying his best to ignore the fact that his hands felt like it was going to pop out of his wrists as it held his whole body weight.

"I commend the valor you display even at your current position. You really are a Turk despite the idiotic demeanor." The older man clapped with a wicked smile before continuing."Let me tell you my real objective as a reward, you can tell the other Turks and maybe Rufus Shinra will be interested in my revolutionary invention." He added with a chuckle. "That is if you make it back alive."

"Quit the monologue. I can never get why you villains never get tired of it." Reno cut his enthusiastic captor's laugh, earning a frown and muttering about how he himself used to be an active villain himself.

"Have you ever wondered how Jenova's cells survived for millennia? It's clear from the past Jenova project's that her cells are far more superior and stronger than ours, with one drawback of it being in control instead of us. But what if we can make it weak enough to keep regenerating instead of deteriorating our own body?"

Reno frowned as it dawned on him. This was medical research he was speaking about, nothing about military power or anything of those sorts, but he still couldn't understand what he would gain from all of it. There must be a benefit for him, that's just how the world spins. Especially to Shinra's science department or anyone who'd had a position there. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about Geostigma. Those were caused by remnants of Jenova or Sephiroth's cells."

"That's where Seira Howard's blood is needed. Her cells have similar traits with the ancient's, or maybe she is one, that doesn't matter right now. The ancients had the power to seal Jenova thousand years ago and the rain which healed Geostigma three years ago originated from a deceased cetra's powers, am I right? Imagine Jenova's invincible cells as a medicine, the planet will be free from any weakness and incurable diseases!"

It was then realization hit the redhead hard. Fujitsu Kino was one of the weak, he remembered Seira's father or Recca mentioning him with a weak heart. He was going to be the first to benefit from that insane cure he was talking about, he may have even used himself as a lab rat.

That explains the drastic change to the man in front of him. He had never believed that being exiled from one's hometown would reduce such a rich guy like him into bones, literally. Especially an ex Shinra scientist, they were a group of the most conceited, bad looking men he had ever met in his life. "You're delirious! That kind of medicine won't be able to help anyone! Jenova had destroyed enough lives it's almost immoral to use it for anything of that sort!"

"Silence!" He warned, "I would receive no such speech from anyone, a Turk nevertheless."

"You're no different from any of them!" Reno shouted to his retreating back. "You guys only give a shit about your achievements and it kills all of you in the end!"

"Oh, and I would start worrying about myself if I were you." Kino walked out without bothering to close the door as another man waited at the end of the corridor. "You're late."

"What's important is I'm already here." The lanky male dismissed his current employer's grumpy tone with a wave of his hand.

"Do as you like but make sure he's alive at the end of the day."

"I'll make him _beg_ me to kill him."His eyes were reduced to a thin line as his smile widened from ear to ear, greatly resembling a fox caught in mischief. "It feels like I've been waiting for this all my life. You sure it's the real redheaded Turk?"

"Check yourself if you don't believe me." The older male walked away with slight haste without waiting for another response, clutching at his chest as he turned at another corner and was out of view. Just a few more paces and he would be in his private chamber.

But he fell on his knees as his muscles jerked painfully before he could reach the steps ahead of him. He couldn't even scream or close his eyes as pain racked his whole body, his heart accelerated, threatening to jump out of his mouth and his whole body shook as if he was being electrocuted.

"Sir!" Ren didn't know if his master who was thrashing on the ground could hear him at all. He ran to him without delay as he watched the older man's skin bulging and wriggling as if something was frantically writhing underneath it.

The blonde wasted no time and immediately fished a syringe filled with pastel red, almost pink liquid from his pants pocket before injecting it to the older male.

Kino's wide eyes immediately fluttered close as his muscles relaxed and seized its spasm. His breathing was still ragged as he felt his eyes dilating back to normal and pushed himself up with the help of his butler. "You should've waited."

"But-" The young man protested before thinking better of it.

"There's not much left."

"My deepest apology, sir." He said, bowing his head as much as he could without dropping his master's arm he was supporting. "But Seira Howard is already back."

Kino couldn't help but let a smile spread across his face as he felt his body stopped shaking and his strength returning to his body.


	19. Repercussion

_A/N: Merry Christmas readers, wish you all had a great one!_

_I've recently realized a bad habit of mine. I tend to get stuck in one tiny part of my fic which usually took days or sometime weeks before I'm happy with it, when I've basically finished the whole chapter minus that one tiny part. So, I've wasted the time of those who still read this Author's note just to say that whenever that happens I'll remember to post a preview, sneak peek or whatever they call it nowadays in my blog. I don't really update much on my blog anyways, so I thought why not put it to good use._

_Shout outs to Dontgotaclue88 and Nightcrawler666 for the lovely reviews!_

_ Nightcrawler666: Yes I feel you for that one. There's just that ultimate sense of satisfaction whenever you have a reason for updating late, HAHAHA. Anyways, read quickly and write your own fic before your readers kill me for holding you up! *runs*_

_R&R_

* * *

Seira stood in front of the full length mirror in her room in Healen and lifted her shirt up to below her chest, tracing imaginary circles on top of her still flat stomach and cupping her lower abdomen with the other hand. She ignored the visible swollen bags under her jade orbs and sighed in relief at the only routine that she could do ever since she had reached Rufus' private quarter.

Reno would be disappointed again when he saw her belly. She could never fathom why but he was always whining on her not getting fatter every time she met him since her pregnancy. Couldn't he just wait for another two months when she would definitely be swollen in every place he could imagine? The brunette rolled her eyes at the thought with a sad smile. "Pray for daddy's safety, okay." She whispered down to her stomach.

Seira and Recca had reached Healen yesterday. She had immediately went home after receiving Rufus' offer from Tseng and talked with her father about it.

The talking part was long, tedious and involved quite a lot of threats and screaming on both parties. But at the end, Kyle gave up when his only daugther resorted to begging.

_"I love him as much as I love you, dad. I'll do the same thing if you were in his place! And I know you'll do the same for me or mom if we were in his position...Please, just let me go." The brunette was finally desperate. She would stop as low as crying if she could, but her face was already stiff and tired enough and the thin skin around her eyes were as sore as it could get. _

_The older man found himself at a complete loss for words for the first time that night. He let his shoulders visibly sag and enveloped her in a tight embrace instead of fighting back before reluctantly letting his only daughter go. _

Later that night, just before Recca and Seira teleported back to Gaia, She had caught a short conversation from her parent's room, where her father was sighing heavily before complaining to his wife that their daughter wasn't so little anymore. And Reina had laughed at him and called him silly before telling him that their daughter hadn't been a girl for quite some time now.

A knock at the door startled the brunette and she quickly lowered her shirt as Elena's high voice told her to assemble in the common room in another ten minutes. "Just a moment." She called out and straightened the bed beside her before going out of her temporary room.

The living room in Healen was round, two large blinded windows occupied a third of the wall beside the door she just came through while a framed Shinra electric company poster occupied another side. Below the logo was a worn out, black, three seated sofa and a flat-screen TV sitting on top of a slim, low table beside it.

"Good morning, Rude." Seira smiled at the only Turk who was already in the room before joining him on the leather couch.

The silent Turk who was already dressed in his full uniform and shades again merely glanced towards her before returning his gaze forward. "You didn't sleep last night." It came out more of a statement than a question.

Seira chuckled and lightly bumped her head against his shoulder. "Yeah, be grateful at least you guys didn't have to hear me cry all night."

The Turks were certainly an odd bunch. She had always thought that they had managed to stick together all these years due to their professionalism and high tolerance against each other. But knowing them closer now, she had came to realize that they were more like one big family who wouldn't know what to do without each other despite their mismatched members. Elena would be the annoying sister who took everyone's problem as her own and try to fix everything outright, Rude the silent observer who will still care for you regardless of anything which may possibly go wrong in life (even though he _rarely_ demonstrated it). Tseng was more of a wise mother who scolds her children when everything really went out of control while Rufus was the dictator father who never really needed to say much on their family member's affairs despite how much plotting he actually does.

And Reno would be the brat in between them, the trouble maker who kept all of them together despite all the problems he brought. He had always had that effect on the people around him, he never failed to attract people in spite of how annoying he could be.

Elena had kept her busy all night after she had arrived, distracting her mind by talking about her baby and letting her take care of the infant, but when she had to go, Rude was the one accompanying her for the next two or three hours. And he just sat there in silence and let the brunette paced, jumped around the room and lightly bang her head against the wall as her thoughts slowly consumed her.

But his, calm, unchanging presence somehow seemed to be helping her sanity as she calmed down after some time and she understood how Reno and his polar partner could became as close as they were. Rude was like a cliff standing tall on a wide coast, stopping Reno-the strong tides of the sea-which crashed against it and made it tall instead. They wouldn't survive in absence of the other.

It wasn't after she found herself capable of sitting still for five minutes that Seira told the silent Turk to sleep since she was going to as well. But another hour passed with her alternating between walking around quietly and lying half of her body on the bed, that she knew the Turks weren't fooled at all.

Tseng had knocked and brought her a tray full of assortments of tea bags and instant chocolate drinks as well as an empty Chocobo mug and a thermos filled with hot water to the brim that she felt embarrassed at herself.

So, after a few cups of tea, the brunette managed to force herself to lie down and stare at the ceiling, concentrating on anything but her thoughts. She remembered drifting off once when the birds started chirping happily outside but it didn't last long as she woke up before the sun was even up. And that summed up her uneventful first night in Healen lodge.

"I know you miss him too, Rude." Seira said absentmindedly, earning a single grunt from the man beside her.

The door beside them was yanked open without any warning and Recca didn't bother to stifle a yawn as he entered the room and fell to the seat beside her niece. He was never a morning person as much as she was or even worst at times. "Morning." The Wutainese grumbled and leant his head back, letting his loosely tied hair hanging at the back of the couch.

It wasn't long before Tseng, Rufus and Elena made their appearance, the Turks opening the door in front of the president and closing it behind him. "Seira, Recca." Rufus started before sparing a glance at the tanned Turk beside them who had stood up attentively. "Good morning, both of you look well."

Recca waved his hand in dismissal as if it was an everyday occurrence while Seira pleasantly smiled, feigning ignorance at her obvious miserable state. It was still kind of awkward even thought the three of them had settled into an agreement to drop all formalities the night before. But the president wasn't half as bad as what she had first thought. At least he looked genuinely concerned when it came to Reno's predicament and made obvious effort that it wasn't simply because the redhead was a great asset to his Turk.

"Any update from them?" The brunette asked hesitantly, she was quite new to this and wasn't willing to make a fool out of herself more than she may have.

"Tseng." The blonde nodded curtly to the Wutainese in front of him who pulled out two zipper bags from his jacket's inner pocket and handed it to the sitting relatives. "We found those near the crash site. It was placed recently."

Seira took the plastic containers unsuspectingly, noticing that one contained a piece of paper while the other had a card partially painted red. Her uncle took the paper while she had her eyes rooted at the card. It took her quite awhile to notice that the crimson dye was actually blood and it was smeared over a picture, name and Shinra logo, the back was completely covered as if it had been dropped to a puddle of blood. A shiver racked her body as she noticed points of a different shade of red poking at where the man's hair should be and she squinted hard enough to decipher the name through the red haze.

Reno.

"Is this-"Dread immediately filled her like an empty cup being filled with water, she clenched her fist around the empty side of the transparent plastic and looked up at the others in horror, unable to continue her own words. And all the thoughts that she had tried so hard to block away from her mind all night came back at her like torrents of bad images, flooding her head relentlessly. The brunette couldn't shake them off this time, couldn't get rid of the vision of him left alone in some dingy cell like the one she had been in just two months ago, bloodied and beaten with barely another breath in him or none at all.

She knew she should have more faith on him, the redhead wasn't only a Turk, he was a Turk with high status and he was well past used with danger being served on a silver platter to him not only during missions, but she couldn't help but think what if he didn't make it this time? If Cloud and she had just been lucky that their captors were busy enough to give them chance to escape without any serious injuries. Even her imagination refused to think of a future if he didn't make it through.

Tseng nodded slowly as if it would help her mind accept the fact before explaining."We've analyzed it and we're positive it's his blood and ID."

From her side, Recca pried the card from her tight grip and placed the note sized paper he had been inspecting earlier on her open hand instead. And the brunette noticed for the first time that the note wasn't empty but was printed with small letters which looked like it was written by those old fashioned typewriters. It reads 'A bag of her blood in front of meteor monument at 1500 tomorrow.' and nothing more.

The ransom note this time somehow gave her a brief sense of relief, on the contrary, to the first one which had scared her lifeless when Tseng first showed it last night.

'Leave Seira Howard or by force we shall take her in exchange of Reno of the Turk's bloodless body' it was a collage made of bold, sharp color letters which hurt her eyes, found in Rude's pocket when they found him after the crash. And it still unnerved the silent Turk that the enemy was able to do that. He was still breathing right now just because they chose not to dispose of him. They had the choice and opted not to.

Of course he was grateful, the thought would even make his blood boil at the thrill if only his partner wasn't held captive by some ex-Shinra scientist on the loose.

But at least they had a lead now, a way to contact them, albeit it's vagueness.

"We might know where their base is."

"Might?"

If Rufus was annoyed, he hid it well and ignored the brunette's remark before continuing. "There have been unpleasant rumors about an old hospital in Kalm to keep people away from it."

"Isn't that near the crash site, are you sure they'll risk attacking near their base?" It was the older Howard's turn to raise an eyebrow this time but the blonde merely shrug him off and answered.

"They would expect us to think that way, it was another Shinra scientist's property and we never bothered checking it in the past. Our agents are investigating as we speak."

"So, what's the plan tomorrow?"

"I've called Cloud for the worst case scenario, we'll infiltrate their base and catch them unguarded at the appointed time tomorrow, details to come once we've gathered the required Intel from the field."

"What's the worst case scenario?"Seira couldn't help but ask.

"If Jenova cells have been used on someone."

* * *

Pain

Fuck, everything hurts.

Reno's teeth clattered as he sat on his own pool of blood which soaked through his pants and made everything all the more uncomfortable. He found himself at the same position he was in when he first found himself in the dimly lit cell except for his legs which were fortunately stretched in front of him.

The redhead had to admit that his captor was good, he knew the right guy for the job. That sadistic fox guy had some skills with not just physical torture but verbal abuse too. He had run his mouth the same length he ran whatever device he was using on him without pause. And the Turk was proud that he had held himself quite good by not uttering a single syllable in agony- nothing too pathetic at least - but he wondered if he should just scream at the top of his lungs right to his face next time. If, there was a next time, hell, he hoped not, he couldn't stand another round of that guy's twisted anecdotes which doesn't even make sense!

Besides, he didn't know how long he could hold himself anymore.

They had used him as a punching bag, carving stone and shooting range and healed him to stem all the blood escaping from his external wounds. But that's the limit to what a standard cure and a few potions could do.

His insides burned and ached fiercely as fractured and broken bones, bullets embedded deep in his flesh and partly healed gashes could only send pain to his brain as a signal of distress.

Reno found himself, unable to move a muscle and for once was grateful for it. All the pain right now itself had already made his mind numb. He didn't want to imagine what it would feel like to move

And honestly, for the first time in a long time, the idea of death cheered him up. Just a little push of his tongue and teeth would do the job. It wouldn't be a clean cut, but at least he would eventually run out of blood or drown in it, what's a little more suffering now?

But despite the thoughts which easily crept to his mind, his body wouldn't simply give in. And it wasn't just his survival instinct which had been honed almost to perfection during his days in the slum and Shinra's most notorious department.

It began when he was left alone for the first time after his capture, when he was still able to writhe in pain which didn't help anything but intensify the pain. The frustrated Turk could feel his energy seeping out of his body with every breath and was about to give in to the sweet darkness when he heard her voice.

The voice that he had grown to love so much in the past year called his name over and over again like a broken record playing in his dying head and whenever he was almost lost from reality, her face would also be there accompanying it. The brunette would always be there scolding his laziness, laughing his name out at a particular joke he had said, crying at one or two of her rare weak moments when they were alone, calling him for dinner, sighing his name as she snuggled against him and it kept bringing him back, ironically prolonging his suffering.

It was as if his mind knew that she was the last thread that was holding him from being swept away to the Lifestream.

Looks like his body had always been the wiser part of him.


	20. Agony

A/N: Shout outs to TwinkleS, Nightcrawler666, and Dontgotaclue88 for the lovely reviews! Sorry for the late update, its almost near the end and I'm trying my best to make it a memorable one!

R&R

* * *

It felt like she was sleeping on top of a pile of fluffy pillows, everything was warm, soft and nice that it felt like she was in a distant world. Seira's eyelids fluttered as she opened her eyes to a pair of transparent blue ones and couldn't help but let the corner of her lips elevate.

"Morning." His vibrant, red hair didn't seem real against all the whiteness until she heard his rough voice. She didn't know why, but it felt like years since she last heard him and it felt like something weight was lifted from her heart. The brunette reached out to the lapel of his white shirt and cuddled closer.

"Morning, Reno...I miss you." Her mouth seemed to have its own will and moved before her dazed mind could even process what she was doing. She could feel the heat rising towards her cheeks and quickly hid her face against his well-toned chest, not letting go as if afraid that he would go again.

The redhead chuckled and shifted back so that he could see her small face, loving how a light blush had crept to her pale cheeks. "You can look at me all you want." He said with a smirk, before pressing his lips to her temple and wrapping his arms around her to press her closer against him.

And Seira was unable to respond, trapped in her own pure bliss. In between the sensation of Reno's warmth which felt so comforting, his fingers threading through her hair and his strong, solid arms trapping her against his bigger body, the brunette could only stay silent and let the moment last as long as possible.

"Don't forget your meds." He whispered.

"Meds?" She gasped at the sudden breath against her ear before jerking awake.

It took her a moment to get her bearings again, but she found herself back on the bed in Healin, properly tucked as if someone had just wrapped the blanket around her.

"Seira, breakfast is ready and don't forget your medicine." Elena knocked and called.

She mumbled a reply, loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear and stayed for another minute before getting ready.

Seira tightly wrapped her arms around herself and squeezed her eyes shut to let reality sink in. The designated day had finally come. Time had gone torturously slow for her, even though they had just received the news yesterday.

And she just certainly hoped that her dream was a good one.

* * *

The brunette glared in disdain at the arrays of colorful capsules splayed on her palm before popping everything into her mouth at once and throwing her head back to swallow with the help of a little water. She had somehow managed to convince the others to take her blood and place it in the instructed place in Edge, just in case their Intel was wrong about Reno's position.

You can never be sorry for being safe, right?

But in exchange, Rufus has instructed his doctor to give her an absurd amount of vitamins and a strict bed rest for an entire day. It seemed that he would ground her today too if not for the reason that they had to get to Kalm early.

Seira opened her mouth and sucked a deep breath until her chest shook before letting everything go, feeling a part of the tension in it leave too. "Don't you dare leave us, Re." She whispered before walking away and closing the door behind her.

* * *

The brunette had to keep reminding herself to take it slow and not break into a run after every step. Seira was thrilled and afraid at the same time; as she had immediately took off to the abandoned building after Reno's name and the word alive escaped Rufus' intercom and reached her ears.

The only thing that wasn't making her turn back was Tseng's steady footsteps, which echoed through the dark corridors. He had followed and planted himself beside her, never falling more than a step ahead or behind. She crossed her arms and hugged herself, feeling her concern building up again as she thought of how her redhead would stay as close as possible to her if he knew that she was just acting brave and hiding her paranoia of something jumping out of the dark, rows of dilapidated doors on each side of her.

They walked in silence except for their exceptionally loud steps and passed through some corridors and stairs before a lighted passage came to view. Some WRO soldiers were stationed in front of a particular room.

Seira finally broke into a run, ignoring Tseng's protest as he called her name. And then she saw him, not in the best position but at least without any visible physical injury on his bare torso and still able to speak to Rude who was partially covering him.

"Reno!" She threw herself to the unsuspecting Turk, making sure not to pull him down and strain the restrains that were holding him up by his hands.

And the next thing she knew was the distinctive metallic noise made of rattling chains, a familiar scream made out of pure agony and the sensation of being swept from her feet, literally.

Rude and Tseng had their arms around her chest, shoulders and waist before Seira could even screw her eyes shut at the initial shock; and, froze for a moment until they gently placed her down on her feet again. She was outside the dimly lit room, hoisted back out of the chained Turk's range by Tseng and Rude who was already back inside and exchanging information.

"Where's the anesthetic?"

"He said he was given alcohol and injected with something before."

The brunette couldn't move as she watched in horror at her lover who would've sent her flying back to the wall if not for the shackles holding his legs in place. She listened at the Wutainese's blunt conversation with his subordinate but couldn't take her eyes off the other Turk. Reno wasn't screaming anymore but she could see how much effort it took him to control it. His eyes were fastened hard, mouth slightly open as he grunted at every ragged breath he took as if it was draining his very life out of him.

Everything hurts, it feels as though an invisible monster was wringing her head to the pit of her stomach and legs like she was merely a piece of wet cloth. And she wasn't even the one who was hung to the ceiling, the one whose entire body was visibly shaking, straining against the restrains as his muscle contracted in response to the intense pain, the man whose veins were popping out of his pale skin as if it were purple paint trickling down his head.

A heavy hand on her shoulder made her jump with a yelp before violently turning her whole body to face her uncle, who she noticed also had his eyes fixed on the redhead. She resisted the urge to hide and bury her face on his chest.

"Recca? What did you find?" Tseng's voice was still as smooth as usual, laced with a hint of confusion and frustration.

"We've found him...but its not looking really good. Cloud and the others are sending him out." He said, before adding at the Turk's concerned face. "The Jenova cells are getting stronger without the antidote he was making with Seira's blood, his heart wouldn't take it for long...What happened to him?"

Seira didn't have to turn around to sense Tseng's hesitation at her presence. She didn't want to see the sight of Reno in such great pain again. It was already taking her everything to stabilize her shaking voice. So she egged him before he continued. "What happened, Tseng?"

"...To keep it short, he was tortured and partially healed. We need to move him as soon as possible but we can't move him much due to some possible internal hemorrhage and he is in too much pain to keep still."

"Sedatives?"

"He was given something else before, we can't risk it. "

"Sei...Sei?"

The brunette would have thought she was imagining the weak voice calling her name, if not for the sudden hushed silence around her and everyone staring at Reno's half lidded baby blue eyes, which were directed at her wandering jade orbs. "Reno..."

"Hey...what are you doing here? The air is not good for both of you...go out first and I'll follow real soon." The redhead was still smirking despite grunting at every breath and flinched as his diaphragm contracted a little too much in order to draw in more needed oxygen.

Everything was already reduced to a dull ache, which still hurts like hell now. He had first thought that he had imagined her voice as a penetrating pain to his middle accompanied it and made him lost all his thoughts. But as cheesy as it sounds, his pain almost immediately became bearable as he saw her just a few meters away, even though she looked as if she was on the verge of tears.

His lover immediately wiped her leaking tears with her shaking forearm and swallowed the growing lump in her throat before scoffing with the loudest voice she could muster. "Reno...you idiot. Quickly get on your feet, I'm waiting for you, like it or not."

* * *

Rufus marched gracefully through the white washed corridor, his tailored shoes clicking rhythmically against the tiled floor in time with his blonde Turk behind him. "What about the other one?" He asked without looking back, ignoring the overpowering sterile smell which assaulted him as soon as he reached the hospital.

"We managed to apprehend him as soon as he entered Kalm. He is asking permission to make an antidote for his master, should we allow him?" Elena reported while easily keeping pace with her employer. She repressed the urge to tell him to walk faster as they slowly approached the ER.

Tseng had reported them about Reno's initial condition and it didn't sound the least bit good, even though he was still breathing. And bad would be an understatement in this situation when it came from a senior Turk's mouth.

It wasn't like Rufus wasn't worried about the redhead; he was just too damn smug to admit it in public. "Let him do what he wants, but don't let them meet." He answered briefly, showing just that brief sense of haste in his voice and Elena Couldn't help but let a small smile invade her professional facade.

"Roger, we're almost there, sir."

They walked the rest of the trip in silence until the heavy double door came to their view and the male blonde stopped for a pregnant moment before pushing it open.

* * *

The last two hours had been a torture. Seira looked up with her stinging eyes as the ex-Shinra president entered the waiting room and didn't bother to keep her eyes open again as she leant her head back against her uncle. The man himself was deep asleep, exhausted after almost constantly casting sleep on a certain redhead who kept waking up and howling in pain despite his mastered level of the spell.

Tseng and Rude immediately approached the newcomers and marched away to another corner where he silently reported, away from the relative's hearing range. Their employers could actually see for once how much this mission was taking a toll on them. His Turks' were pretty much maintaining they're straight face but the obvious black circles around their eyes were evident enough.

Seira felt a hand on her shoulder and tiredly moved away from the sleeping man, accepting Elena's hug without any protest. It wasn't like she would decline, she was just beyond tired to even hug her back. The brunette sighed as her friend started stroking her hair and whispering encouraging words.

But she wasn't there when Reno was brought in. His screams and his contorted face as his screams couldn't even express the pain wouldn't be etched in her mind forever even though she knew they had gone through perilous missions during their old days of working together.

"He'll survive this, Seira. He's not a Turk by name only." The brunette didn't know why but that particular sentence struck something inside her and she crumbled into a heap of silent sobs again.

It was the exact same thing that she had been trying to make herself believe. On the other side, she didn't want to accept the fact that he had gone through these kinds of ordeal in the past, except that she was the sole cause this time. The redhead was tortured, had to undergo multiple surgeries to be open up and closed again to heal whatever had been inflicted on him because someone targeted her.

"He wouldn't have to go through this...if we never met." The female Turk heard her friend whisper and immediately yanked her away from her chest so that she could glare at her glazed orbs.

"Don't you ever dare say that again!" She chided, almost regretting for sounding harsher than she intended when Seira flinched and looked even more miserable, if possible before continuing in a gentler tone. "You're the reason he's still living until now. Don't say that again, Seira."

"Elena...I'm sorry." The corner of the scolded woman's lips went further down as she freely cried to her heart's content. "I'm sorry." She chanted over and over again as if she was praying for her lover's pain to go away.


	21. The end

Was he finally gone to the Lifestream?

He couldn't feel the excruciating pain and the metallic taste of blood anymore. It had been the only thing his brain could register for quite some time that it felt like forever now. He couldn't sense anything at all except for the incessant ringing in his ears. In fact, it felt as if he was floating. Or just numb.

Well, that's another thing added to the list of things to be thrown to the back of his mind. The redhead mulled through his hazy mind. He didn't remember the exhilarating relief he felt when he saw his partner again, the sickness at the pit of his stomach as he recounted the number of bullets and fractured bones in his body. Or the agonizing pain when something tackled his stomach and the rush of endorphins, which immediately calmed him the moment he saw his brunette in front of him, albeit their current situation.

No, he couldn't remember all of those. All he could recall was the memory of the last few days in the world of pain, which felt like the only thing that his mind could process.

"Am I...dead?" Reno croaked out, missing the signs of consciousness like the tingling at the tip of his fingers or his lifting eyelids. When he realized, it was too late to avoid the assault of glaring lights that immediately greeted him.

"Reno?" The recovering Turk almost couldn't hear his lover's voice over the annoying buzzing that turned out to be his own heart rate monitored by the standard ECG beside him.

Seira who was sitting on a chair beside his bed instantaneously stood up at the hoarse voice and leant down to his face, knocking back the chair in the process.

Her voice sounded distant and he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. It was so bright, is that the normal lights on the ceiling or a halo on top of Sei's head? "The goddess is quite kind today, sending an angel that looks just like my fiancée." He mumbled.

Leave it to Reno to joke with a genuine confused look. The brunette resisted the urge to smack or hug him and opted to call for the other man who had stayed on guard with her instead. "Rude! He's awake!" It has been three days since he was brought to the hospital and she hadn't laid a finger on him in fear of hurting him again.

"Whoa, there's also an angel who looks like Rude. Do I still have to work in the Lifestream?"And leave it to Reno when it comes to convincing people to think that he was cracking a joke, when he was honestly lost.

"What the hell is he talking about?"

"He's on drugs." The silent Turk simply stated.

"Hey, I can't feel my body, is this normal? Sei, Seiiii, you know I love you babe, Rudeee? " Reno continued his slurred whining as he kept moving his head sideways drowsily as if to compensate the lack of ability to maneuver his body or just acting like a drunken man who had more than a shot too many for the night.

"Let me." Rude's booming voice immediately snapped the brunette's slightly open jaw shut. She had her hands awkwardly lifted in front of her while she swayed sideways and couldn't decide what to do or where to go first. She stepped back without a word as the man with the lesser choice of words took her place and poised his hands on either side of the rambling Turk's cheeks before swinging it down hard.

And the effect was immediate. Reno lurched as forward as his numb body allowed with a gasp as if he was rained by a bucket of ice cold water. "Fuck! Okay, I felt that one, partner."

"I'll call the doctor." Was the only reply he got before his decade old friend disappeared with a slam of the door, giving him the extra jolt needed to wake his mind.

The brunette was still looking blankly at the closed door when her lover chuckled, finally sober and less dazed. "As much as I want to smother you with kisses until you're sick of it. I'm afraid you'll have to do it for me. Given my current condition. "

And Seira would've jumped into his arms if her self-conscience had allowed. She sidestepped to her previous position and gingerly wrapped her arms around his head. "Re." She sighed as the weight and tension on her shoulder melted as if it was never there to begin. Suddenly, all she ever wanted to do was curl into a ball beside him and bask in his warmth despite the custom hard bed and pillow provided by the hospital that she used to hate with a passion.

"You won't hurt me, Seira." Reno was only able to lift his hand as far as the small of her back encouragingly and his head was slightly spinning again.

At first he thought it was his senses going back to sleep, before he realized that Seira was the one slipping away at an alarming rate. "Whoa, Sei!" He was able to grab a hold of her upper arms before it completely left him, however her knees had buckled and almost kissed the floor as her whole weight was dragging him off the center of the bed. "Rude, anyone, help!"

Tseng and Recca entered in bewilderment and took a moment before rushing to his aid as they processed what they were witnessing. They were expecting the girl to be shouting for help and not vice versa. The scarred Wutainese grabbed a hold of her arms and the back of her legs before gently hoisting her up to the bed while the barely conscious Turk somehow scooted to the side.

"She must be exhausted. I'll tell the doctor to check her after Reno and you shouldn't be awake yet in the first..." The head Turk sighed while the said man couldn't even register who was talking anymore. He almost immediately drifted back to another deep slumber after letting go of what felt like his entire strength as the familiar heat settled beside him.

* * *

Rufus Shinra was an evil man

Not necessarily past tense.

He had changed significantly since meteor struck and turned his image into a better fit for the new society.

It was for his own sake, in order to retain what little image he had left before it would be stripped away by the raging people under his feet. Hence, he wore a pristine white suit metaphorically too.

And that's why he bothered to use Shinra's resources to make a perfect replica of the serum for the main, dying antagonist who honestly, was of no use to him anymore.

Did he mention the lack of the main protagonist's blood in the serum his subordinate made?

Of course, no, it was a secret after all. And unlike his father's, his entire collection of secrets has stayed as one so far.

Even after chaos has taken over the world more than once.

...And another of his trusted subordinate had to sacrifice his life.

* * *

His eyes were wide open before flicker of recognitions in those azure orbs melted his whole tense body at her rousing.

She was way pass used to his jumpy nature taking over in those rare moments when she would wake up before him. Eyes wide, arms tense, hands sometimes balled into fists or ready to strike. It must take his whole being to stop those reflexes when it had been harshly plowed to your body.

She knew about the Turks job, the context of almost all of his past missions, the rules and what he had to do, but never the content of it. Reno didn't want to risk keeping her in the dark or making her a target for any of his enemy. Being close to her alone was enough cause. And the brunette knew he had thought about it all of the time to such an extent that part of his main objective of his lack of secrecy was to scare and make her pull out of this relationship willingly.

The last thing they would ever want to do was make the other regret whatever they had done to even start this volatile bond. There were too many external factors that could just come and jeopardize everything.

And that's why both parties tried the hardest to keep their internal state as stable as possible. Every time he looked the slightest bit shaken, she would just gently pull him close with both hands on either side of his cheeks, letting him memorize her features while she press their forehead together and close her eyes. "Reno...it's me, hey." She would whisper different versions of it, either saying how much she loved him or something along the lines of being there at the moment. Anything to calm his oversensitive nerves. And the redhead would usually just close the space between them and feel, to make sure that it wasn't a dream anymore.

And they would stay close for as long as possible till one of them broke the silence. It was Seira's turn this time. "What happened? How did I-"

"Don't worry, you're just exhausted or they won't just leave you here." The brunette sighed as she stirred into a comfortable position on her sides and lifted the blanket up to their neck to hide Reno's bandaged arms and chest that wasn't covered by the standard hospital gown.

"The doctor told me what they did to you, Reno." She rested her hand on his uncovered forearm beside her and slipped her hand in between the gap of his thumb and forefinger that was free of clips and IV lines, bending her head down so that half of her face was hidden.

"I'm sorry you had to hear all that." The redhead's voice wasn't regretful or teasing, it was just flat and his lover regretted not being able to see his expression when he said it. Was he being sarcastic? She would never know.

"What are you sorry for?! I should be! Their main target was me from the first place, not you." She recoiled from his hands as if it was suddenly hurting her and hissed, whispering as loud as she could in the dead of the night and resisted the urge to push him away from her in sudden disgust.

Reno watched his lover's pained expression, her eyes moist with tears that had sprang to life at the ferocity of her words. He wanted to smile at his stupidity, how could he forgot her personality. He either had spent too much time away from her or it was just her raging hormones that he wasn't used to, he was too tired to even think right now. "I'm sorry." He repeated, sincere this time and intertwined their fingers together before bringing it up to his lips. "You know I didn't mean it that way." He wiped the corner of her eyes with the back of his attached hands while the brunette blinked the moistness away.

She didn't even realize the tears that have escape till he did the motion. She didn't expect conceiving would change her this much, already finding times when she couldn't control herself more than she would've liked these days. "I'm sorry, Re. Didn't mean to shout at you." Seira sighed heavily and relaxed back to her previous position.

"You have nothing to worry now, I heard he's dead."

"Who?" She managed to look up in time this time, but her lover's gaze was fixed straight to the white ceiling. It didn't take long for her to answer her own question. "Oh, how do you know? How long was I asleep?"

"Tseng told me that his heart couldn't take it when I woke up again for awhile, you slept for 1 full day max. How long was I knocked out?"

"But I thought Rufus gave him some of my blood? More than 3. It took the doctors quite awhile to patch you up."

"He did?" Reno found it odd that Rufus would be that nice. He noticed his boss' slight change of personality in the presence of people outside the Turks' circle, but he was never convinced that he had changed that much. Well, Turk's were never meant to question, a professional Turk shouldn't give it much thought as long as it didn't hurt anyone they cared for. "Maybe his body was just too weak to begin with." He shrugged.

The redhead was about to open his mouth to break the silence before he can feel himself falling asleep again, when he heard her hesitant enquiry. "What about the other guy?"

"Hmm? The butler? Tseng seemed to be interested in recruiting him since he didn't really put much a fight as long as he can keep his boss alive while he is. Seems like he's doing what he is just because of some past debt. What about him?" There was an edge of irritation at the end of his sentence which didn't go unnoticed by Seira and she can feel the corner of her lips begin to lift up again.

"Nothing, I guess Tseng is right. He took quite a lot of unnecessary trouble when he caught me. Jealous?"

It was Reno's turn to get sensitive this time as he heard her giggle right beside his ears. "If you get it don't ask about another man next time."

"Says the guy who has been making me worried sick."

He really wanted to retort that he was the same guy who almost lost his life but decided against it. An argument really was the last thing he wanted right now, even if it was a playful one. "Oh, was the little one worried too? You don't look like you've gained much weight, you should eat more, remember that there's two of you now."

Seira wanted to laugh out loud and she didn't even think she'd feel guilty if she couldn't hold it in and wake or scare anyone near the room. She had never expected to see this side of Reno, he looked more excited than her who already couldn't wait to get over the next 6 months. "Yeah, we were so worried that none of us could eat much."

And she had never expected him to be the father type. Frankly, the thought that he would just leave her with the big responsibility even crossed her mind once. But now that she had seen this side of him, there was really nothing to worry about.

Seira's smile widened as if to acknowledge her attention to Reno's story on the Turk's habit to sneak in food from a nice restaurant nearby whenever either was sick.

It was a happy end for another external factor after all.

"Hey, are you listening. Tell Rude to order the usual for me tomorrow." The redhead drawled, feeling as if he just reached home after a whole day of work.

"I am, Reno. Let's worry about that tomorrow, okay. Your eyes are barely open." She stifled a laugh and as if on cue, a yawn as well.

"Okay, okay, says the yawning sleeping beauty. Sweet dreams."

Seira drowsily flashed her teeth in a dazzling smile."Love you too. Nites, Re."

* * *

_A/N: And that's it, the end of this long story. T.T I know its sad but I gotta move on to the other plot bunnies that has been hopping around my head in hopes of getting my attention. Next should be Kingdom hearts! As I've promised in my KH oneshot. Of course I haven't forgot about it, silly you._

_Thanks for all the support in the last two years, Love and Sin didn't even take this long and this sequel was supposed to be a short thing! I think my brain just kinda jumped ahead hehe._

_Anyways, shoutout to __Dontgotaclue88__, __Nightcrawler666 and TwinkleS for the latest review, thanks for sticking out till the end. Love you guys and hope to see you in another of my stories!_


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